CH02 Dirty Laundry
by Miz Em
Summary: Colby story, revolving around insurance fraud but mostly concentrating on relationships. All Numb3rs characters are involved, including original character, Hannah. Changed Rating to M. Just want to make it clear what my story contains.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Colby chuckled when he heard the sounds of a baseball game blasting from the television as he let himself into Hannah's apartment. The Cardinals were almost always on at Hannah's when the feed was available. She had shelled out extra money for the satellite company's MLB package just so she could watch all the Cardinals games. Colby found her passion for baseball more than a little fascinating. She was generally serene, handling life's little peccadilloes with an equanimity he sometimes envied, but when it came to baseball, it was a different story.

"Did you see that? Did you see that? Get some glasses, ump! That was a strike!" she was yelling indignantly at the TV. Colby laughed, and slipped his arms around her to give her a hug. She grinned at him, and hooked an arm around his neck to pull him in for a quick kiss. But just a quick one. After all, the Cardinals were at bat.

"What inning is it?" Colby asked, trying to catch up with the game.

"Bottom of the fifth, Cardinals ahead 4 to 3, Edmonds on first, Pujols on second, and Scotty Rolen's batting," she replied, her eyes glued to the TV. Colby grinned, Rolen was one of her favorites.

Hannah sat up in excitement as Rolen hit a comebacker to the Dodgers' pitcher, then gasped in horror as the pitcher's throw to first base forced first baseman Hee-Seop Choi into an awkward position directly in Rolen's path. "Oh no! No, no! Please, not his shoulder again!" as they watched the Cardinals trainer help Rolen up. Rolen was cradling his arm as he walked off the field.

"That's obstruction!" Hannah bounced indignantly.

"That's not obstruction," Colby said, laughing at the dirty look Hannah threw him. "Choi's just fielding his position!"

"A runner has the right to an unobstructed path to his base!" Hannah declared hotly.

"Yes, but this right is not granted if the fielder guarding the base possesses the ball or is in the process of catching the ball. Choi was definitely in the process of catching the ball. It was an awkward throw. It's not Choi's fault. It's just one of those things, Hannah."

"Hmph!" Hannah started to argue some more, but Colby took advantage of her parted lips and grabbed her for a kiss. Hannah moaned as his demanding mouth possessed hers. His tongue darted in and twirled caressingly around hers.

"You're just trying to shut me up," Hannah murmured.

Colby chuckled softly, "Is it working?"

She grinned, "Not yet. Do it again."

He captured her lips again, licking and nibbling at her lower lip, then slipping his tongue in for a taste of her. He heard her soft whimper of need, and reached to cup her breast, his thumb and forefinger rolling her nipple through her shirt and bra. Her gasp of pleasure gave him some satisfaction. He unbuttoned her shirt, and trailed kisses from her lips, down her neck, to her nipple. He sucked gently on the aroused nipple. Then he burst out laughing as she struggled to jump up from under him, as they heard the crack of the bat when Sanders hit a home run to bring the Cardinals to 7 runs. "You know, if I had a fragile ego, I'd be worried that you're more interested in the game than in my attempts to arouse you." Colby said, still chuckling.

Hannah bubbled with laughter. "Do you want to have something to eat while we watch the game? That way, we'll have more time later... " she wiggled her eyebrows at him. "Grilled bratwursts, just like at the ballpark. And there's beer in the fridge."

He dropped a kiss on her nose. "Sounds good to me. Are the bratwursts on the stove? I'll get them. Just so you don't have to miss any of the game."

She smiled and hugged him. "Well, aren't you a sweetheart? Things must have gone really well at the FBI today!"

"When do the Cardinals come into town anyway? Do you want me to get tickets for the series?" Colby asked as he headed into the kitchen.

"Not for another two and a half months," Hannah replied in disgust, but brightened. "Does the FBI have connections to get tickets to better seats?"

He laughed at her excitement, "I was just going to log on and get them online, just like everyone else."

She sniffed in derision at that, "I already have tickets, thank you very little!"

An inning later, Colby regretted that he hadn't insisted on turning the game off. The Dodgers scored 6 runs to pull ahead of the Cardinals 9 to 7. The pout on Hannah's lips showed no signs of going away, as the Cardinals struggled, seemingly unable to adjust to losing Rolen from the game. Hannah curled into his embrace, apparently needing comfort. By the end of the game, the Cardinals had only managed to pull within one run. The air had gone out of them, and it seemed to have gone out of Hannah too.

Colby cradled Hannah close. He was beginning to get worried at how dejected Hannah seemed, then leaned back in some relief when he felt her reach her arms around his neck as she sighed. "Mmmm," he moaned, as she turned and began to nibble and kiss his neck. "That's better. You'd gone away and I wondered if you were going to come back to me," he murmured into her hair.

"Consolation prize," she said solemnly. Then burst into giggles as he tickled her. It hadn't taken him very long into their relationship to find out that she was extremely ticklish. It made sense, he supposed, since she was easily aroused. He loved her warmth and passion, and was glad to see her coming out of her funk.

She straddled him and unzipped his jeans, needing to get closer. He looked amused and picked her up, then pushed his behind off the couch so she could slide his jeans and boxer briefs off him. She giggled, "How do you do that? You must have really strong quads or something!"

He grinned, "Right now it's the 'or something' that needs attention." Somehow, they got the rest of their clothes off and she was straddling him again.

"Got your condom ready?" Hannah asked, then laughed at his disgruntled expression as he reached for his jeans. They'd already been tossed off the couch. When he had the packet in his hand, she launched herself at his chest, and the momentum shoved him back onto the back of the couch. He wrapped his arms around her waist, as her mouth covered his. Her hips moved restlessly against him as she straddled him, teasing him as she licked and caressed his lips and her tongue dueled with his.

He watched her through a haze of desire as she licked and kissed her way down his chest. She made a detour to lick and suck at his aroused nipples. Then followed his treasure trail down to where he was already standing at attention. She purred a laugh, deep in her throat. Then she curled her hand around the base of his shaft, licking and caressing along the length of the throbbing vein, then circling the head of his shaft. He struggled for control as the sensations threatened to overwhelm him. She slid the condom on as she watched him battle for control. It aroused her to watch him, as need pooled in the pit of her belly with the knowledge of the extent of his desire for her.

She straddled him once more, this time lowering herself slowly on him, slowly as she adjusted to the size of him. She sighed with pleasure as he filled her. She moaned softly as his mouth captured a nipple, and nibbled and sucked on it. She rode up and down on him, his hands on her behind as they guided her. He rode with her, thrusting up as she rode down, slowly at first, then faster as the urgency rose in both of them, until they climaxed. She dropped onto his chest, and his arms wrapped around her. They cuddled, drowsy and relaxed, on the couch in a comfortable silence.

Colby sighed as his cell phone rang. It happened a lot, but Hannah seemed to take it in stride. She snuggled close as he answered it. When he disconnected, she whispered in his ear, "Be careful. I'll see you later." He hugged and kissed her, then reached for his clothes to get dressed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Colby was the first FBI agent to arrive at the scene, but it was already crawling with LAPD and criminalists. The county coroner was the only one not yet at the scene. He moved over to join a plainclothes homicide detective, and flashed his badge. The detective acknowledged him with a nod, and finished up what he was doing.

"Tab Hunter," he introduced himself. Then smiled wryly at Colby's look of disbelief. "My mother was a fan," he said dryly. Colby nodded, amused. It was obviously not the first time Det. Hunter had to explain his name. Colby introduced himself, then asked, "What prompted the call to the FBI?"

"We found death threats to the victim that had been mailed from another state, which makes it your jurisdiction. Two bullets to the head, execution style, with a 22 caliber pistol. Personally, I think it's a hit," Hunter replied, weariness evident in every word.

Colby sighed. "Alright, we'll take the lead on this."

He was already looking around inside the house when David Sinclair arrived. Colby had given David the victim's name when he'd made his calls to the rest of the team.

"Ellery Hague, the deceased is a material witness on a major insurance fraud crackdown, headed by none other than Assistant District Attorney Robin Brooks," David told Colby, who cracked a smile at that.

"Well, that should be interesting," was Colby's only response to that piece of information.

David grinned at Colby. Don Eppes, the lead agent on their team, had been seeing ADA Brooks for a few months. It was going to be interesting to see how well they worked together now.

"Alright, I guess we should go through all the papers in a little more detail here," was David's only comment.

The two agents went in different directions in the house, and started gathering papers that looked like they might have some bearing to the investigation. Colby thought the papers in the house looked innocuous enough. He figured anything incriminating would be hidden away. He started looking for hidden safes or other hiding places.

"Any luck?" David looked in where Colby was still searching. They'd been at it for several hours.

"No, not really." Colby was a little disappointed, but it was early in the investigation yet. They were still doing a general sweep. "I figure anything he had would be hidden. But I haven't found any hiding places yet."

"We'll sift through the papers in the morning and see what we can come up with. We'll also get a financial profile, maybe that will tell us enough for a new focus." David sighed. "I hated having to cut short my evening with Olivia. She doesn't complain, but she gets this look. I don't think she likes it much. And these calls seem to be coming in more often."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Colby said in empathy. "Hannah hasn't said anything yet, but I worry that it's just a matter of time before it becomes a problem. Maybe we should just do the best we can and let the rest take care of itself. Come on, let's call it a night here, and see if we can salvage the rest of the evening. You head on back to Olivia, and I'll take care of dropping these off at the office before I head back to Hannah's. Alright?"

David nodded in agreement, and they went their own way.

-----

It was quiet this time, when Colby let himself into Hannah's apartment. The lights were still on, so he knew she was still awake. "Hannah?"

"Hmm? Oh! In here." Hannah was engrossed in her sketches.

Colby grinned. "A new commission?"

"Mmm, yeah." Hannah stretched and turned around to look at him. "Was it bad?" she asked, noting the weariness in his eyes.

He shrugged. "It's going to be another long one."

She nodded, not expecting any more information. He was good at letting her know whether or not to expect him. Whenever he could, anyway. And she appreciated it all the more, knowing as she did how difficult and demanding his job was on him.

"I like that," Colby mused, looking at the design she was working on.

She grinned, "That's good. There's a possibility you'll be looking at it a lot." She laughed at the surprise on his face. "Dr. Fleinhardt stopped by the store a few days ago. He commissioned this design for Megan's birthday."

Colby laughed. "Oh, that should be interesting!" He knew that the five women had become friends in the last few months. Hannah and Olivia were particularly close, but Amita, Robin and Megan had also been getting together with them. To shop, have lunch, whatever it was that women did when they got together. Colby never asked. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. "How are the designs for the jewelry show coming along?"

She beamed at him, pleased that he had been paying attention to what was happening in her life, even though he was always busy with some case or other. "I'm finished with the designs, and Amita's excited about modeling them at the jewelry show. I also had some done for Olivia to model. Robin and Megan didn't think it would be appropriate for them to do any modeling. Oh, I thought I would donate part of the proceeds to the community center. What do you think?"

He smiled, "Anything you can do to make David's life a little easier would be greatly appreciated."

She eyed him for a moment, then nodded. She knew Olivia fairly well by now and thought she knew what was going on. Then she slid her arms around Colby, "Trying to save the world, Super Agent Man?"

Colby grinned down at her, "Hardly super, and just trying to do the best I can for a friend."

"Well, I think you're super. But you look like you need a back rub and then some sleep."

"I'll take a rain check on the back rub. How about we just cuddle tonight?" He said softly into her hair.

She looked surprised, but nodded, then giggled, as he swept her up into his arms and carried her into the bedroom.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The next day, Colby and David combed through the papers they had brought in from the victim's home. It was slow, detailed work, to classify the papers and note the contents. Don had already mentioned to them that the task force for the insurance fraud investigation was going to use the FBI office as their headquarters, and were in the middle of moving everything and everyone involved to the FBI. Colby thought Don had been looking a little strained lately and wondered how he was going to take working with Robin Brooks at such close quarters.

Colby's thoughts turned to Hannah, as they often had since he met her. He smiled a little, thinking about how good it felt to wake up with Hannah in his arms. He loved the feel of her in his arms, as he woke out of slumber. He loved the soft fragrance of her, as he burrowed his face into her hair and neck. He loved the silkiness of her skin against his, as he smoothed his hands over her body, pressed close against his. She never seemed to stir much or to feel him cradle her close in the mornings, before he left for the day. She was the soundest sleeper he'd ever known.

"Do you have the financial profile on the victim?" David's question cut into Colby's reverie. Colby shook himself mentally, and focused on looking for the financial profile.

"No, the profile isn't back yet, but here's something interesting we should probably look into," Colby responded. "There are monthly deductions on his bank statement for a safe deposit box. I'll go back to the house and see if I can find a safe deposit box key. Maybe there'll be something in that box."

David nodded, then turned his attention to Don as he walked in with Robin Brooks.

"You both remember ADA Brooks?" Don asked, then continued when both agents nodded their greetings. "The task force is setting up the conference room as a command center, just like before. We've also brought in an outside consultant with experience in the health insurance industry, to help go over the data. Grab your stuff, we'll be working out of the command center for a while."

The command center was a hive of controlled chaos as Don's team walked in. There were stacks of files on every surface. More were being rolled in, boxes and boxes of them, on two wheelers. Through the activity, Colby saw a woman, probably in her mid-forties, booting up her laptop, in the farthest corner of the room. He barely controlled a laugh, as she sharply smacked the hands of an unfortunate helper who tried to put some files on the table she was working at. He saw David grinning as well. Robin Brooks smiled, "Come on, I'll introduce you to her. Rilla Davison, these are Special Agents David Sinclair and Colby Granger. They're part of Agent Eppes' team and will be working closely with you."

Rilla looked up and found herself wondering if she'd walked into the GQ section of the FBI office. She'd found Don Eppes undeniably attractive when she'd met him earlier, and here were two more of his team, just as devastatingly attractive. Maybe more, she amended to herself, as she started to succumb to Colby's roguish grin. "You're not going to spout some nonsense about assaulting federal officers and felonies, are you?" Rilla said tartly, more to shake herself loose from the agent's charms than anything else.

Colby's grin widened, "Lucky for you, he wasn't a federal officer. Or you'd have to work this case from behind bars."

She snorted at that, but returned his grin. "What's the plan?" Rilla directed her question at Robin.

"We'll wait till everyone gets settled, then we'll have a meeting to catch the FBI up on the case. They have a new case that we'll need to fit into ours."

Rilla nodded, "I'll get some things together for you, Robin. Say in a few hours?"

"Maybe more, if you don't mind," David cut in. "Colby and I have a couple of things we'd like to check out, that may take more than those few hours. The victim has a safe deposit box we'd like to run down, if we could."

"Go ahead. A few more hours won't hurt, and the more we know about the victim, the better," Don told him. "In any case, Megan's running something down and won't be back any time soon. I definitely don't want to start without her."

-----

A closer look through the keys in the victim's home yielded a safe deposit key neither agent had noticed the night before. They headed to the bank to see if they could get into the box.

Jenn Pleiman looked up from her station as the two men walked into the bank. She saw the badge at the belt of the black man as his jacket swung open. She assumed the other man was his partner. Jenn picked up the phone and called the branch manager in her office to warn her, as she watched the two men stop at the customer service desk.

"The lady at the front desk tells us you're the woman with the answers." Colby said, approaching Jenn's desk.

Jenn looked up and caught her breath at the green eyes that looked at her. "Ah. What can I do for you gentlemen?"

"We need to get into a safe deposit box." David told her.

"Well, anyone can help you get into your safe deposit box, Mr...?"

"Special Agent David Sinclair, FBI, Ms. Pleiman, and this is Agt. Colby Granger. It's the safe deposit box of the victim in the case we're working on."

"You'll have to talk to the branch manager, Agt. Sinclair. If you'll have a seat, I'll let her know you need to see her."

Katelyn Queenan grimaced as she watched the scene unfold. She had hoped while Jenn talked to them that they were simply here to get into their own safe deposit boxes. But she could tell from Jenn's body language that wasn't the case. She and Jenn had known each other for a long time, they had started at the bank together.

"Not good, huh?" she said as Jenn arrived at her door.

"No, they have a key, but it's a case they're working. I don't think they have a warrant, but I didn't ask. Sorry, Katie," when Katelyn raised an eyebrow. "That Agent Granger's really cute, and I got distracted when I looked in his eyes. Agent Sinclair's no slouch either." Jenn looked a little abashed at this unprofessional slip.

Katelyn laughed. "Okay. I can certainly understand that. Don't look in his eyes, huh?" Jenn laughed with her at that. "Bring them in, Jenn, and stay in here with me. I think it'll be better if we talked in here, if this is official business."

"Agents David Sinclair and Colby Granger, this is Katelyn Queenan, the branch manager," Jenn introduced the agents as they walked into Katie's office.

"What can I do for the FBI?" Katie asked, as she watched them settle into her visitor chairs. Jenn perched at the edge of the credenza.

"We need to get into Ellery Hague's safe deposit box, Ms. Queenan," Colby said. "We have the key here, and his bank statements indicated that he paid rent for it."

"I can't let you into the box without a warrant, Agent Granger," Katie said, holding up a hand when Colby started to interject. "I'm very sorry, but it's bank policy, and it's to protect all parties, not just the bank. It doesn't matter that you have the key, we can't let you in if you're not the signatory for the box."

Colby flashed a smile at her. "Ms. Queenan, we're working on a homicide. Mr. Hague's a victim of a homicide, and there may be evidence in that box to help us find his killer. Surely you can see that it wouldn't be difficult to get a warrant to get into the box? It'll just save us some time if you'd just let us into the box."

Katelyn couldn't help returning his grin, even though the situation was a somber one. Jenn was right, he was certainly a good looking man, and he was definitely turning on the charm. "I'm so very sorry, Agent Granger. You should have just gone ahead and got the warrant before you came here, if it's really as easy as you're making it out to be. I couldn't let you into the box without it, not even if you offered to protect me during the next few morning sweeps." She shook her head when both agents looked at her in askance. She could tell Jenn was trying her hardest not to laugh. "Morning sweep, that's when the branch manager checks the bank in case intruders got in during the night. Other employees wait till the sweep is completed before they enter the bank. That way only one person becomes a hostage if someone really did get in during the night."

Colby looked incredulously at her. "You do this without security? Every morning?" as Katie nodded in response. "What time will you do this tomorrow?"

Katie looked surprised. "8:30am before the bank opens."

"We'll be here tomorrow morning at 8:30. With the warrant."

Katie was silent for a moment. "That's very sweet, gentlemen, but it isn't necessary. However, I'll save you a little time and aggravation. If you'll fax the warrant to me when you get it, I'll fax it on to our security department for their review and approval. Also, be prepared to spend a lot of time here, as we'll need to inventory every single item in that box. And I mean every single item. If there's currency in that box, we'll have to note the serial number on every single bill. And I'll also be sure to have a drill ready, just in case the key doesn't work for some reason." She saw them sigh in resignation and felt for them.

"Well, I guess we'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning. We'll bring coffee and donuts." David said, disappointed. "Here are our cards, and yes, we'll fax the warrant as soon as we get it." He and Colby handed Katelyn and Jenn their cards, and took Katelyn's as they left.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Colby felt vindicated when they emerged from the judge's chambers with search warrant in hand. He had been spinning a fast one at the bank, hoping to get into the box without the search warrant, but it was good to know that he'd still been right. They headed back to the office and faxed the search warrant to Katelyn, making an appointment to be at the bank the next morning. By the time they got to the command center, everyone had already gathered for the briefing, but they managed to slip in unnoticed as Robin began to speak.

"This task force consists of investigators from the Health and Human Services Commissions Office of Investigations and Enforcement, the Office of Attorney General's Medicaid/Medicare Fraud Control Unit, state Bureau of Investigation from Tennessee, Florida, and California, and now the Federal Bureau of Investigation. TBI, FLBI, and CBI have several convictions pending for TennCare, Florida Medicaid, and Medi-Cal in Medicaid fraud, numbering in the millions of dollars. These convictions have led to Medicare fraud investigations that we believe number in the hundreds of millions of dollars, maybe even billions."

Robin introduced the members of each agency, and continued, "We had a big break in the Medicare fraud investigation when Ellery Hague decided to plea bargain, and provided us information on a Medicare fraud scheme involving chronic dialysis services. To give you an idea of the scale of this breakthrough, the global market for chronic dialysis services is worth approximately $43 billion and at $5 billion, the US market is the largest in the world in terms of value."

She paused and looked at everyone. "Unfortunately for everyone involved, Ellery Hague was killed last night. This is one of the reasons the FBI has joined the task force. We hope that in the investigation into the homicide, we'll be able to uncover information that he had intended to provide us with. Information that we had not yet received."

Looking over to the corner, where Charlie had been talking to Rilla, Robin continued, "We have retained the services of Professor Charles Eppes who is a mathematician, and Rilla Davison, a healthcare services consultant. Professor Eppes is from CalSci, and Ms. Davison is from a consulting firm that CMS had already retained to create a data warehouse."

She grinned and went on. "Agent Eppes tells me that Professor Eppes is available to us whenever necessary, day or night." There was a smattering of laughter at that. "However, Ms. Davison is only available onsite Monday through Thursday, even though she is available via email or telephone on Fridays. Let's try to work within those constraints. Any problems with that?"

Robin glared around the room. Colby was amused to see huge, muscular agents stand down from that glare, then focused on Robin again as she continued. "We have secured the cooperation of all state Medicaid agencies, and the insurance companies that process Medicare claims on the behalf of the Center of Medicare/Medicaid services. Medical claims data from all these agencies are pouring in, Rilla and her crew are in the process of loading all the claims data into the data warehouse. Professor Eppes and his assistants are coming up with methodologies that will use this data warehouse to help us identify potential fraud situations. This data warehouse will also help us compile evidence in the chronic dialysis services scheme." She took a deep breath, "That's pretty much all I have. Any questions?"

There were a few questions, then everyone broke up and went back to their own piece of the investigation.

Colby and David caught Don and Megan up on where they were with the safe deposit box. Then they headed back to their own tables in the command center to start sifting through the rest of the papers they had brought in from Hague's home.

"Hey, Charlie! How's everything?" David greeted Charlie who was wrapping up with Rilla.

"Just getting everything from Rilla before heading back to CalSci. Say hello to your ladies for me." Charlie dashed out the door like the hounds of hell were after him.

Rilla laughed. "Your brother's something else, Don." She grinned, "What, I'm not sure yet!"

Don returned the grin. He'd found Rilla easy to get along with, in the few hours he'd been working with her.

"Nice gig you got there, Davison," Colby ragged her. "Only working Monday through Thursday. What do I have to do to get hours like that?"

Rilla sent him a half smile. "You have to be really good at what you do. Does that give you a clue as to where you stand in the scheme of things?"

David broke up into laughter. "She got you there, Colby!"

She relented when Colby threw David a dirty look. "It's because I live in Chicago. Mondays through Thursdays onsite, Fridays at home. With wide area network connectivity these days, it's become easier to work from home."

All four agents looked at her in surprise. "Don't you miss your husband during the week?" Megan asked in astonishment.

"Sure I do. But think about it. Even when I worked in town, I worked late just about every day. I would stress out trying to get back home so I could see him for maybe a few hours in the evenings, if that much. This way I work late without any guilt four days a week. And I focus entirely on him for three whole days. How many of you can say you spend that kind of time with your significant other?"

Rilla glanced around, then felt guilty. "Sorry, I forgot for a minute that you were law enforcement officers. I roll that spiel out almost automatically these days. You probably don't get to spend very much time with your loved ones, do you?

Colby smiled at her, "It's alright. We're tough law enforcement officers. We can take whatever you dish out. So what does that mean? Focus entirely on your husband for three whole days?"

Rilla grinned with mischief, "It means I'm very, very nice to him. And he's a very, very happy man when I'm at home."

The four agents broke up into laughter at that. Then went back to the tedious details of their investigation.

-----

Hannah's apartment was dark when Colby finally got there. He was spending more time there than he was in his own apartment, but he couldn't really say that he was spending quality time with her.

He stripped and slid into bed with her, pulling her gently into his arms.

"Mmmmm, Colby." She murmured, turning into his arms, and pressed a kiss against his neck.

He kissed her on her temple. "Sorry, honey, I didn't mean to wake you."

She laughed softly, "I wasn't all the way asleep. You know you wouldn't have woken me if I were."

Colby chuckled softly in agreement, resting his cheek on the top of her head. He loved the feel of her cradled in his arms. She had been pressing kisses on his neck. That seemed to be her favorite place to start. He threaded his fingers through her hair, gently massaging her scalp and slowly moving down to massage her neck.

A soft moan of pleasure from Hannah made him smile. The soft sounds of pleasure she made were music to his ears. His hands began to explore her body, gently stroking her arms, as he tilted her head back to lick and nibble his way down her neck. Gently pulling her arm up, he began by kissing her palm. Then alternating kissing, nipping and licking, he worked his way from her palm to her upper arm. Her sudden gasp of pleasure when he nibbled the soft, silky skin on the inner part of her bicep gratified him. She had been caressing his shoulders and arms, but her hands were just gripping his shoulders now. He knew she was just hanging on now as he pleasured her.

Her collarbone looked inviting and he succumbed to that invitation, pressing soft kisses there. He licked his way down to her breast. Her nipples had already tightened into aroused little buds, but he skirted around them, as he licked his way around the curve of her breast. She whimpered in protest at that lack of attention, but he ignored that. He slid his left hand around to the small of her back, lifting her just slightly. His right hand reached around the other side to squeeze and massage her butt, while he licked and sucked his way down the soft skin of her belly, then finally, he spread her legs with his hands.

He began to lick her, from her vaginal entrance to her clit, up one side then down the other. His softened tongue spread her labia and he caressed her clit with the rough texture on the middle of his tongue. She jerked in sudden pleasure, and his hands went around her hips to steady her. Then he started flicking the tip of his tongue around her clit, teasing her, before finally concentrating on her clit. His tongue swirled around her clit, exposing it, and then he gave her clit a quick little suck. That sent her over the edge and she climaxed. He held her through the climax, continuing to gently lick and suck, but slowing down as she spiralled back from her climax.

"Oh, my God!" was all she could manage to say, her bones still liquid with the climax she'd just experienced.

Colby grinned, and positioned her on her left side. He leaned over her left leg, perpendicular to her, and pulled her right leg over his hips. He pressed himself into her and began to thrust steadily into her. Slowly at first, but he'd held his own need in check for a while, and that need took over as he thrust hard and fast into her. He heard moans of pleasure and realized that this time, some of those moans were his own, intertwined with hers. The position they were in, with her tilted slightly forward, and him slightly back, had him thrusting towards the left inside her. He'd discovered early on that it was her more sensitive side. Before long they both hurtled into a climax.

They lay on her bed for a few minutes before either of them recovered enough to move. Hannah giggled as they both struggled to get back under the covers. "And what do you call that particular sexual position? How did you learn of it?" she murmured, drowsy with the pleasure.

Colby laughed, "Does it really matter? It felt good, didn't it?"

Hannah smiled as she nestled back in his arms, "Well, I just wanted to know what it was called so I could ask for it later."

"It's the Sleeping Beauty," he murmured as they both drifted off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Well, you look like you had a good evening," David couldn't resist needling Colby when he arrived in the command center. Colby tried to ignore him, pulling out the search warrant from a stack of files on his table, and putting it into the inner pocket of his jacket. They had made their appointment to be at the bank at 9 am.

Robin couldn't resist joining in, grinning in mischief as she said, "You should hear the way Hannah talks about him, David. Anyone off the street would think Colby was perfect. But we know better, don't we?"

"Now, wait a minute! Does that mean you don't talk about me the same way?" Don cut in, before Colby could protest.

Robin rolled her eyes at him. "Spoilsport! We're picking on Colby here."

"Well, thank you for bailing me out of that one, Don!" Colby started to head out the door, "There was no good way out of that conversation!" He and David left the command center, both of them laughing. David was still teasing Colby, as he lightly punched Colby on his upper arm.

Don and Megan left as well, to check out some other details of the homicide investigation. Rilla noticed that Robin was watching them leave. She thought Robin looked a little wistful. "So, who is this Hannah?" Rilla asked, more to bring Robin back from her thoughts than out of any curiosity.

Robin looked at the older woman and smiled. "She's Colby's girlfriend. We've become pretty good friends over the last few months." She told Rilla about how the five women met, and how they sometimes got together. "I like Hannah a lot, but some days I alternate between envying her and, well, hating her."

Rilla's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Robin had been speaking affectionately of the five women. The last remark was unexpected.

Looking a little embarrassed now, Robin continued, "It's kind of silly, I suppose. It's just that Hannah seems to take everything in stride. Colby works a lot of hours, similar to the ones Don works. It never fazes her. And he always looks happy after he's spent time with her. They never argue, they never fight. It can't be normal. And it's extremely aggravating to me, because it bugs me a lot when Don has to work late. Plus, Don's been looking very strained lately, but he won't tell me what's wrong. Nothing I've done has eased that strain." Robin sighed, then shrugged. "Just ignore me. I really do like her a lot, and that was uncalled for."

Rilla nodded. She liked Robin, but thought that the ambitious woman was worrying a great deal over very little. She'd only been there a few days, but the agents looked like a dedicated bunch. Working long hours might not be healthy for them, but she certainly understood their rationale. Robin had to have known what the relationship would be like, going in.

-----

Colby and David arrived at the bank at 9 am sharp. Katelyn had to laugh when she saw Colby swagger in, waving the search warrant in his hand. He grinned at her. "I told you it was a no-brainer for the warrant."

"Well, let me see this search warrant." Katie replied, grinning back at him when he raised his eyebrows. "I have to compare it against the fax you sent, and our security department has told me what I need to be looking for."

"What, you don't trust FBI agents? We're the good guys!" Colby protested.

"Just following protocol. You do know how to follow protocol, right?" Katie responded. Colby sighed theatrically and handed her the search warrant.

Katie checked to make sure the search warrant was in order. She filled out an entry ticket, called Jenn, and the four of them went into the safe deposit box area. They unlocked it, and David pulled the box out. Katie decided to use the back room in the vault area. It gave them a little more privacy, and there was more room to spread out so they could do the inventory. She dreaded the inventory, because it was one of the bigger boxes, and from the way David was carrying it, she thought it looked pretty heavy.

Jenn groaned when David opened the box, and Katie wasn't very far behind with her own groan. There were stacks of currency in it. They were going to be here all day inventorying just that currency alone. David grunted, the only sign that he'd heard them.

"What else is under there, David?" Colby asked.

"CDs, lots of them. Just numbers written on them. Could be anything on them. Here's a list of numbers, looks like coded descriptions. Papers. Oh, some of these look like those claim forms that Rilla was looking at. Alright, let's inventory these CDs and papers. I'll sign a receipt for them, Katie, then I'll run them back to the FBI office. Colby will stay here and help you two inventory the currency." David grinned at the look of disgust that Colby threw his way. The agent, senior only by a year or two, knew that Colby much preferred action over paperwork. But he liked to yank the younger man's chain once in a while, just to keep him on his toes.

"Yeah, it's going to be a real hardship, locked away in a bank vault with two beautiful women, handling more money than I'll ever see in my life," Colby shot back, sarcastically. "Bring some lunch, will you please? Rib-eye steak, rare, baked potato."

Katie couldn't help laughing at the disgruntled look on the younger agent's face. Despite his light rejoinder, he looked like he'd had a fate worse than death handed to him.

"No time like the present. Just show me what I need to do," Colby said to Katie, still looking morose. He looked incredulous when she explained that he had to write the serial number from every bill, and showed him where to write it on the inventory form. He heaved a huge sigh and started writing. Jenn quickly finished the inventory on the CDs and papers, and David left.

The two women exchanged amused glances. Colby was working diligently on the inventory. Undoubtedly, he'd had to rely on this same dogged patience before. There wasn't a single word of complaint, but there was a cute almost-pout on the man's sexy lips. Katie wasn't sure if she was going to make it through the day without a hot daydream about this man. She glanced over to see Jenn with a transfixed expression, eyes focused on Colby's lips. She grinned and went back to inventorying her own stack of bills.

-----

"Don, we have 20 CDs from Hague's safe deposit box, and a stack of papers. I'm going to get a tech and go through the CDs, see what's on them. There's a list, but it looks like it's in code, maybe Charlie could take a crack at them." David was briefing Don and Megan on the events at the bank. "Colby's still at the bank, inventorying the currency that was in the box. There were stacks there, looks like several tens of thousands of dollars. These papers, some of them look like claim forms, I don't know what the others are."

Don nodded, as Megan said, "I'll take the papers, go over them, see if I can identify what they are. I'll take the claim forms to Rilla as well."

"Make sure the tech makes a copy of those CDs before you get started," Don reminded David as he headed out the door. David waved in acknowlegement.

"These look like papers from off-shore accounts, Don," Megan said thoughtfully, "I've seen them before, in a previous case. I'll start running down information on them."

"Alright. I need to run something else down. I'll be back in a while."

Megan looked surprised. She couldn't think of what Don could be running down for the Hague case, but she didn't comment. He was in charge, after all, perhaps he had something for the Assistant Director that she didn't know about.

-----

Don finally admitted to himself that he was lost. It was a quiet desert road and he had no idea which way to turn and he didn't want to waste time heading back the way he'd come. He looked up quickly at the sound of an engine, and saw a Chevy Nova pull up to the same stop sign he'd stopped at.

"Hey! Do you know which direction I would turn to get to Gary?" He shouted to the woman in the Nova. She rolled the passenger window down, and he leaned in, showing her his badge.

She grinned at him. "Lost, are you?" And laughed at the expression on his face. "Well, I'm headed that way. You can follow me, if you think you can keep up. Otherwise, you just turn right. You can't miss the sign."

Don gazed at her, drinking in the sight of a beautiful woman with shoulder length red hair and grey eyes. "And why wouldn't I be able to keep up with you?"

She laughed. "Want to find out? Last one there buys the beer."

"You're on!" Don hopped back into his Suburban as fast as he could, because she'd already taken off. He laughed out loud at the exhiliration of driving at top speed through a desert road, trying to catch up with a beautiful woman who had the sass to race a federal agent. And she was good, too, he realized, as he discovered with each passing mile. He wasn't falling back, but he wasn't gaining either. He suddenly realized that the only time he'd gained on her was when she slowed down. Damned if she wasn't toying with him! He grinned like a kid, and stepped on the gas in a bid to gain on her.

She was leaning on the hood of her car at the roadhouse in Gary when he finally pulled up. Her lips were twitching in amusement. He sighed and asked, "What kind of beer?" She burst into gales of laughter at that, and Don had to smile. "So, are you going to tell me your name?"

"Regina Wise. You can call me Reg, or Reggie. But I'll hurt you if you call me Gina." She threw over her shoulder as she headed into the roadhouse. Don enjoyed the view for a second before following her in.

They talked and laughed over the beer. And Don broke down and asked for further directions to his destination. He looked at his watch, then asked if there was a motel nearby.

Reggie nibbled on her lower lip as she pondered that. Don couldn't take his eyes away from that lip. Finally, she said slowly, "Well, there's always my place..." She caught her breath as he flashed her a bright smile.

-----


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Several hours into inventorying the currency, Katelyn found herself more and more impressed with the agent. He had been working on it determinedly for several hours, and showed no signs of needing to stop. Katelyn's shoulders were killing her and she really needed a short break in the powder room. She looked over to Jenn and saw her shoulders drooping too. "Jenn, why don't you take a break, then bring in a couple of menus so we can order lunch." Jenn nodded with relief, and practically ran from the vault.

Katie felt strong hands at her shoulders, gently massaging out the knots. She moaned softly, it felt really, really good. He picked her up and leaned her up against the bars of the vault, lowering his head to capture her mouth with his. He nibbled on her lower lip, and a soft whimper escaped her. His hand gently kneaded on a breast, the other unbuttoning her blouse. His mouth found a nipple and sucked. She arched up at the pleasure. He pushed her skirt up and slid her panties down. She managed to unzip his pants and slip his briefs down. He grinned, then caught her hands together, and before she knew it, she was cuffed to the bars of the vault. His mouth captured hers again, and this time he was thrusting into her, harder and faster with each thrust, until...

"Katie? Katie, are you okay?"

Katie jerked out of her reverie and looked up at Jenn, holding a stack of menus in her hand. She was frowning worriedly at Katie. "Fine, fine. I'm fine," Katie replied, almost breathlessly. Jenn threw her another suspicious look, then handed the menus to her. Katie looked quickly at Colby. He looked at her with a slightly puzzled expression, but went back to inventorying the currency. She sighed in relief. Katie couldn't believe how hot and how real that daydream had been.

Steadying herself, she took lunch orders from Jenn and Colby, and went to her office to call the orders in. She needed a break herself.

"Does she always zone out like that?" Colby asked with some concern. "Maybe she should see a doctor or something."

"Oh, I think she'll be fine. Inventorying currency for hours on end does strange things to a person," Jenn said.

-----

"I'm heading out for lunch," Robin said to Rilla in passing. Rilla nodded, only half listening. She was still submerged in her own world of claims data. "If anyone's looking for me, let them know I'm having lunch with Hannah and Olivia, would you please?" Robin grinned to herself, as Rilla nodded again. Rilla seemed to be completely absorbed in her own work.

"Is Megan going too?"

She looked back at Rilla in amusement. "I didn't think what I said even registered with you."

Rilla laughed, "Sorry, I needed to complete my train of thought. Age is catching up with me. I used to be able to multitask better when I was younger."

Robin rolled her eyes at that self-deprecating comment. "No, Megan's running something or other down. I wanted to run something by Hannah and Olivia and I didn't want Megan's involvement." She smiled at the quizzical look that the older woman sent her way, but didn't say anything else. And Rilla was too polite to delve any further.

Hannah and Olivia were already there. Olivia was smiling at something Hannah was telling her. She was the more reserved of the two, but at the same time, she was the one who was more inclined to speak her mind. Hannah was warm and friendly with everyone, seemingly able to strike up a conversation with anyone, but she revealed very little about herself. Robin was often amused at how these two very different people had become such good friends. "Sorry I'm late," she said as she sat down. "Have you ordered yet?"

The three women chatted and laughed through lunch, but even Olivia could tell that Robin had something on her mind. "So are you going to tell us why you wanted to have lunch?" Olivia asked.

Robin smiled at the direct question, as Hannah rolled her eyes at her friend. "You don't pull your punches, do you, Olivia?" Robin said in some amusement.

"If you wanted someone to coddle you, you'd have just called Hannah," Olivia retorted dryly.

Hannah looked at her indignantly. "I do not coddle!"

Both Olivia and Robin laughed at her. "Yes, you do! Just like you coddle that man of yours!" Olivia couldn't resist needling her friend.

Hannah sighed. "I can't help it. He's good to me, and he works very hard. I have a difficult time saying no to him. And it feels petty to complain about anything."

Olivia hugged her. "I'm just teasing you. They do deserve some coddling. I just wish they didn't have to be gone so much."

"I think Don's cheating on me." Robin said, baldly. She smiled sadly at the stunned looks from the other two women.

"You know the team works all hours, Robin. Why would you think such a thing?" Hannah asked, regarding her friend with some worry.

"He's never had a problem telling me what's going on. He's always told me what he could, even on confidential cases. These days, he's just plain evasive and he doesn't look me in the eye. There've been times when he'd let me think he was running something down for a case, but his team would say something that would contradict it. And he's looking particularly strained these days. Nothing I do seems to ease that."

"What would you like us to do, Robin?" Olivia had the light of battle in her eyes.

"Nothing," was the soft reply.

Olivia threw her an exasperated look, "Then why'd you tell us?"

"I just needed to talk. I needed a shoulder," Robin said softly, close to tears.

-----

Reggie couldn't believe that she'd invited him to stay. She'd never thrown herself at a man like that before. And she had been stunned at the gleam in his eye when he said he'd follow her to her place. She wasn't sure what she'd expected when she tossed out that offer of a place to stay, but she'd practically melted into a puddle at the man's feet when he flashed that bright smile at her.

Don pressed close to Reggie as she unlocked the door, placing a hand at the small of her back. She could feel the tingling start from the small of her back and spread wildly all over her body. She turned and pressed back against him. They somehow managed to stumble into the apartment and shut the door behind them.

His mouth was on hers, urgent and demanding. Her lips parted in response and his tongue delved in, caressing her tongue, and teasing the inside of her lower lip. She moaned at the intensity of the pleasure. She barely registered one of his hands massaging her scalp. The other was unbuttoning her shirt. But she definitely noticed it when his mouth closed over one nipple. She gasped in pleasure when his tongue swirled over her hardening nipple, and she arched into him, wanting more, when he sucked on that nipple. Then her hands were busy, doing their best to rid him of his clothes. Through the daze of sharp, almost painful pleasure, she unzipped his pants. He moved from one nipple to the other, and her knees buckled, liquid with the mix of desire and pleasure, but he caught her at her waist, and eased her to the floor.

His hands quickly removed the rest of her clothes. She was hot and wet. She wanted him and she wanted him now. He knelt and pulled her legs up, leaning them against one shoulder. He picked her up by her hips, and thrust urgently into her. Reggie almost screamed aloud at the intensity of the pleasure. "Oh, God!" she choked out. Don paused in concern. "Don't stop, please don't stop." He smiled down at her, and she knew she'd never seen a more gorgeous man. He began slowly, teasing her now, and she bit her lip to stop herself from begging for more. But he started to pick up the intensity, seemingly unable to control himself, and as Reggie finally screamed her climax, Don thrust harder and reached his own.

Don dropped onto the floor next to Reggie and pulled her into his arms. He pressed a kiss on her forehead. "I'd like to see you again," he said quietly.

-----

They were finally done inventorying the currency by late afternoon. They had inventoried $100,000 in small mixed bills. "I hope I don't have to shoot anyone today," Colby said morosely, looking at his hand. "I don't think I could shoot straight."

Jenn giggled. She couldn't help it. She was tired and punchy, and the double entendre was just too much for her. Colby looked at her in surprise. He didn't think it was at all funny.

"I'm going to have to arrange to get this transported. It's evidence in the case, but I don't want to walk out with $100,000 stuffed in my pockets."

Katie nodded, "We'll put it in the vault, and give you a receipt. I'll get the paperwork started to release the safe deposit box back into inventory. Just give me a call when you're ready to come by and get this.

Colby nodded and headed back to the office. He found David and Megan discussing the off-shore accounts, and reported on the money in the safe deposit box. "Where's Don?" he asked Megan.

"I'm not sure. He said he was running something down several hours ago. I haven't seen him since."

"Okay," Colby said, drawing out the word slowly. He looked at Megan, unsure of what to say next.

Megan wasn't sure about what was happening with Don either. But she decided to send the two men home. They'd done plenty that day, it wasn't going to affect the case one way or another if they went home.

-----

Olivia turned in surprise to see David coming in the door. He smiled at her, and from behind his back, pulled out a bouquet of roses. Olivia caught her breath, they were Dancing Flames, her favorite roses, creamy petals edged with pink and red. She slid her arms around him and kissed him tenderly. He grinned.

"Don't think a bouquet of roses is going to let you off the hook, big boy," Olivia said.

But there was no bite to that remark, and David knew it. He hugged her. "It's good to see you, Olivia. I've missed you."

"How come you're out so early? Isn't there some big case going on?" Olivia was curious.

"Yeah, but we've put in a lot of work, and Megan thought going home now wouldn't affect the case one way or another." David relaxed in his favorite recliner.

"Megan thought? What did Don think?" Olivia asked in surprise.

"Don't know. He wasn't there, and Megan didn't know where he was." David had already kicked off his shoes and was leaning back in the recliner, bliss evident in every bone and sinew.

Olivia smiled tenderly at the sight of him relaxing into the recliner. Then she jumped into the recliner with him, startling him out of his relaxed mood. She laughed. He was cute when she startled him like that.

"I would think you'd be used to this by now," she said, still laughing. It warmed him inside to see her laughing. He settled back into the recliner, this time pulling her into his embrace.

"David."

"Hmm?"

"Robin thinks Don is cheating on her. Do you think that's where he is?"

-----


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Hey," Colby said as he walked into Only You. He grinned at the astonishment that crossed Hannah's face.

"Playing hooky?" Hannah asked, with interest, as she locked up the display cases. She was in the middle of closing up the store.

Laughing, Colby explained why he was out so early. "Come on, already. I actually have a chance to take you out to dinner."

"Where are we going?" Hannah was amused. He was like a kid at Christmas, all excited at having the evening off.

"Mariasol, at the end of Santa Monica pier. We'll walk along the Third Street Promenade first, and then take a walk down the pier. Got any sandals with you? We can walk on the beach if you do."

Hannah shrugged, she wasn't too enthusiastic about getting sand in everything. Then she eyed his grin with suspicion. "You're not planning a 'From Here to Eternity' scenario, are you? I hate it when sand gets everywhere."

Colby burst into laughter. "Well, I hadn't really thought about it, but now that you mention it. No, there'll be too many people at the Pier, unless that's the point..." he teased gently.

She laughed and thumped him on his arm. She'd always wondered if he felt her punch at all, she was so wimpy and he had such a muscular arm.

He looped that arm around her and pulled her close for a kiss and a hug. "Mmmmm... I missed you," he murmured.

She laughed, "You saw me last night, silly."

"I still missed you. It was tough inventorying all that currency. I could use a back rub later."

Hannah looped her arms around his neck and kissed him, "Poor baby, had a tough day sitting around," she razzed him gently.

He grinned, then tugged at her, "Come on! I want to get there before it gets dark."

-----

Hannah enjoyed the carnival atmosphere on Third Street Promenade. She was more interested in the street performers than in the stores that lined the street. Since Third Street was closed to automobile traffic, people spilled off the sidewalks into the middle of the street, mingling with the street performers. She paused to watch the jugglers in open-mouthed amazement. Colby thought that was adorable, and slid his arm around her to pull her close. She smiled and leaned into him, but her eyes were glued to the jugglers. Nearby, competing for attention was a group of comedians, and there were musicians of all types up and down the street. They walked down the promenade when the jugglers were done, then Hannah exclaimed in excitement. "Psychic cats!"

Colby rolled his eyes as she dragged him over to check it out. He'd had enough of people claiming to be psychic, psychic cats were just too much to swallow. But he was amused at how fascinated Hannah was by it all. "You know he's just picking up cues from the woman, don't you?" He whispered in Hannah's ear.

She grinned, "I know. But it's still fun to watch." Then she sobered a little, "I'd be more convinced if he could tell me if Don was cheating on Robin."

Startled, Colby jerked his head around to stare at her. "What? What are you talking about?"

Hannah looked embarrassed, she hadn't meant to betray that particular confidence. "Just.. something that Robin was worried about," she said hurriedly. "Come on, I'm hungry, let's get to the pier."

"You're not getting off that easy, you know that, don't you?"

She sighed. That investigator side of Colby could be really annoying.

Still, dinner turned out pretty well. Mariasol was surprisingly inexpensive, considering that it was at the end of the pier, a particular tourist trap. They managed to get a table with a view of the beach, and the mountains in the background. The food turned out pretty good too, and so did the margarita that showed up in a quart sized margarita glass. Hannah was giggling at everything by the time she got through that margarita. "Good thing you're not driving, lightweight," Colby laughed at her. "You'd be doing good just to make it back to the car."

It amused Colby a little when she started telling him about Robin's suspicions. The margarita had apparently loosened Hannah's inhibitions. But he sobered up as he thought about Robin's observations, comparing them to the inconsistencies he'd noticed lately. Don's personal life wasn't any of his business, but he'd keep any eye out for anything that might affect the case.

They walked along the beach on their way back to the car, with Hannah leaning into Colby. By the time they got to Hannah's apartment she was in the soft, drowsy state that always made Colby want to wrap his arms around her to protect her from all the cares in the world.

He carried her up to her apartment, she was still buzzed and giggling. "Want that back rub now?" Hannah murmured into his ear, then dissolved into a fit of giggles.

"No, I think that can wait." Then he laughed, when he realized she'd fallen asleep in his arms.

-----

"David, have you seen Don yet? I need his sign off to have the currency transported to our office," Colby was looking a little stressed out by that particular piece of paperwork. Don usually made it in before they did. But he had apparently not made it in yet that morning.

"No, I haven't seen him yet. I asked Megan just a minute ago, because I want to go over the contents of the CDs, but she hasn't seen him either. I wanted to make sure he was included." David paused, and looked at Colby. He lowered his voice even though they were the only people in the command center, "Olivia mentioned something to me last night."

Colby looked up, "Not about Don and Robin."

"Yeah. Did Hannah say something to you?"

"That Robin thought Don was cheating on her."

"What do you think?"

"Way I figure it, it's none of my business. I just don't want it to affect the case."

"Olivia thinks we should do something about it." David looked worried.

"There's nothing to do. We don't know whether he's really cheating on her. Innocent until proven guilty, right?" Colby was worried too, but he didn't want to overstep his bounds.

David nodded, then turned back to his work as Rilla came into the command center.

"Morning," Colby greeted Rilla. He liked the older woman. "Do anything exciting last night?" He grinned wickedly as he teased her. He knew by now that she worked late at the office, went back to the hotel and worked some more while she had dinner alone in the hotel room.

She laughed, "Oh, God, yeah! Wild partying at Chippendale's." Then she said in surprise, "Oh, my word, Granger! I love that tie pin and those cuff links. Now who would've thought a Neanderthal like you would have such good taste?" She softened the comment with a smile, and touched him gently on his arm.

But David cracked up at that, and Colby sent her a long-suffering look. "Hannah made these," Colby showed off his cuff links proudly.

"And while he takes the rest of the morning bragging about Hannah, I'm actually going to get some work done," David razzed Colby as he headed out the door.

Rilla reached out and touched the tie pin, marvelling at the intricate yet masculine design. It was Granger to the bone. "Does she do commissions?" Rilla said softly, her mind on getting her husband, Jared, a set of his own.

"Does she ever! Here's one of her cards. I'll wear my other set tomorrow and you can ooh and aah over that set too." Colby was pleased at Rilla's obvious delight over Hannah's work. She was running a finger over the design on his tie pin, and pulling his wrist up so that she could look at the cuff link as well.

Robin came down the hallway at that moment and was appalled to see Colby and Rilla in what looked like an intimate embrace. She was choking on her anger as she stalked into the command center, just as Rilla was pulling away and laughing up at Colby.

"Don't you have to get the currency transported here?" She snapped at Colby, who looked at her in surprise.

"Yes, I just need Don's signature on this form. He isn't here yet."

"I'll sign it. We don't have time for you to be standing around, doing nothing."

Colby was getting annoyed, but held it in check. He went on his way, after Robin signed the paperwork.

"Robin, what's wrong?" Rilla asked gently. She was startled at the venom on the other woman's face when she looked up.

"Nothing," was Robin's short reply. "I'm going to look for Megan." And she stalked away, leaving a bewildered Rilla in the command center.

-----

Jenn was leaned over her desk, underwear pooled around her ankles. She gasped and jerked in response to the light smack on her bare bottom. "Quiet now," he said softly in his raspy voice, leaning over to caress her breasts. She could feel his hard on as he pressed against her. She moaned at the intense pleasure as his fingers squeezed her nipples through her clothing. And just managed to choke back a scream of pure pleasure as he thrust into her. Slowly, to tease her, then speeding up, then slowly again just to tantalize her.

"Need a cigarette?" Katie said wryly, as she tapped Jenn on the shoulder. She laughed at the mortified look on Jenn's face, as she struggled away from the daydream she was having about Agent Granger.

"Now, why in the heck would you say a thing like that?" Jenn tried to bluff her way out of it.

"Because. I've been having the same problem."

Jenn stared at Katie, then both women burst into laughter, amused that they could have such a wild reaction to a man they hardly knew.

"He's here with several other agents. They're going to transport the currency back to the FBI office. It'll probably be our last chance to see him." Katie paused and the two women looked at each other. Katie grinned, "Maybe we could have our picture taken with him and get his autograph or something."

Jenn laughed, "Yeah, right. We'll never live that down."

They handed over the currency and sent Colby on his way.

-----

"We haven't gone over all the CDs yet, but the first few we looked at had images of claim forms on them. Raina looked at the coding on the list, and we looked at the CDs that had similar codes next to them. About 6 of the CDs had the same code on the list, they all contain claims images. I thought we could hand a set to Rilla and have her look at them."

David was telling Don what he'd found out thus far from the CDs. Megan, Colby, Robin and Rilla were also listening in.

"8 of the other CDs had mp3 audio tracks on them. Those will take a little while to review. I thought Colby and I could listen to those tracks and see what we get out of them."

Don nodded his approval.

"Raina can't quite identify what kind of data is on the other 6 CDs. She's having to do some research. She thinks they're encrypted in some way. I'm going to send copies of those over to Charlie. Maybe he can figure out the encryption key."

"Okay, that sounds good. What about the off-shore accounts, did we get anywhere on those?" Don wanted to know.

"They all belong to Ellery Hague," Megan replied. "There's no information on where the money was coming from. But there's about $20 million in those off-shore accounts. I'm still working on getting as much information from the banks as I can."

"What about the claim forms, Rilla?"

"They've been pre-filled with all the proper diagnosis and procedure codes. All that's left to do is to fill in the patient's information, and they're ready to be sent in to Medicare or an insurance company. It's like a blank check, in a sense. There's a mix of types of services, some are dialysis services, some are durable medical equipment claims, and others are injectibles. They're all claims for high dollar items."

"Alright, let's get to it. I need to head back out on the road for something. Call me if anyone needs anything." Don was already out the door before anyone could say another word.

Robin looked frustrated, but let it go, this time oblivious to the sympathetic glances the others sent her.

-----


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

It was late when Colby finally arrived at Hannah's that night. He'd been listening to those audios all day and he had only begun his third CD. Having to stop and make notes and voice prints slowed the process down remarkably. He sighed with relief when he saw the lights still on in Hannah's apartment.

She was just sitting in the sofa when he went in. He was a little surprised, she was usually working on something or other. "Hey, beautiful," Colby said softly.

"Been out catting around with Rilla?" Hannah asked, coldly.

"What?" Colby was astonished. "Hannah, what are you talking about?"

"Robin called. She told me she saw you and Rilla in a very intimate embrace."

He saw her trembling. "Hannah, look at me. This is a very serious accusation. Robin can't be herself if she's seeing things like that."

Hannah whipped around. He realized then she hadn't been trembling in tears, she'd been quivering in suppressed fury. Her eyes were bright with anger, and unshed tears. She had her arms around herself, as though willing herself to control her anger.

"Don't belittle her!" she spat out. "Are you telling me you think Robin's blind?"

"I am NOT belittling her! I just can't imagine what it is she saw that would make her think that Rilla and I were in an intimate embrace. When is Robin saying this happened? I've been working all day! And I've been here with you every night this past week!"

"Well, it's very convenient for you to be working closely with Rilla then, isn't it?" Hannah's voice was rising with each word.

"Hannah, even criminals have their day in court! I don't even know what it is I need to be defending myself against. Are you and Robin, judge, jury and executioner now? When was this so-called intimate embrace that she saw?" Frustration edged every word Colby spoke.

"This morning." Hannah bit out.

"This morning? The only thing that Rilla and I talked about this morning were these cuff links and this tie pin. Rilla was tracing the design on the tie pin and admiring your handiwork! We weren't close enough for it to be an embrace! She wants to commission a set for her husband! She's a happily married woman, and I'm very happy being with you!"

"I am not my mother," she ground out through clenched teeth. Colby started in surprise. "I will not sit around at home, waiting for you to come home, while you're out catting around!" she spat out, still in a fury. "My father always proudly declared that he never cheated on her. But he was never there! He was always out, while she was home, waiting for him. I will NOT let this happen to me!"

"Sweetheart," he tried again, reaching out for her.

She pulled away from him, "Don't touch me! Just leave me alone!"

"You can't be serious!" Colby was furious now.

"Leave. Me. Alone."

"Fine! Shut me out! I'm just trying to work things out!" Colby stormed out the door and slammed it. Then he sighed and paused at the door. And guilt stabbed his heart as he heard her wracking sobs through the door. He reached for the doorknob, but stopped, and leaned his forehead against the doorjamb. He ached to go inside and comfort her, but decided that it might just be better to let her calm down on her own. He stayed there till he heard her sobs subside.

-----

Reggie kept looking nervously out the window, it was driving her crazy that Don hadn't made it back yet. She'd been invited to a prestigious racing event and she couldn't wait to tell him. She moved restlessly around her apartment, straightening things up as she went along. She checked the pot roast over and over again, just for something to do.

Finally, she heard the Suburban pull up, and she dashed to the door, high on the thrill of seeing him again.

She heard the key turn in the lock, then giggling, yanked the door open. Don laughed as he tumbled into her, just managing to prevent them both from falling over onto the floor.

"Miss me?" was all he could get out before she pulled him down for a kiss. He dropped everything as his arms went around her. She was removing his clothes as quickly as she could, almost frantic with need. Then she was moaning as his tongue swirled in to meet hers. He got her clothes off quickly. He picked her up and headed to the bedroom.

He got out of the rest of his clothes after dropping her on the bed, grinning at the face she made at him. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he picked up her hips a little. He thrust into her in a smooth motion. He paused in surprise, then grinned at how ready she was for him. "Stop smirking," Reggie murmured as she looped one arm around his neck to pull him down for a kiss. "Hard and fast, G-man, I need it hard and fast."

Later, as Reggie lay sprawled across his chest, Don said quietly, "Move in with me."

-----

Rilla decided to stop at Only You before heading into the FBI Office. It thrilled her to see the lovely designs in the store window. She'd been trying to find the perfect gift for Jared for their twentieth anniversary. She would have thought it'd be the opposite, but somehow, 20 years together seemed to make it harder to buy gifts.

She couldn't help smiling as she walked into the store. It had a lovely ambiance. She saw a woman with short, dark hair, and warm, friendly eyes at one of the display cases and knew she had to be Hannah. She moved towards her. "Ms. Evans?"

Hannah's eyebrows rose just a little, she'd never seen this woman before.

Rilla's smile widened. "I'm Rilla Davison, Granger described you to me yesterday." Then her eyebrows creased together in a slight frown. She could have sworn that Hannah's eyes chilled. She shrugged that off and continued, "He was wearing this wonderful set of tie pin and cuff links yesterday. I'm hoping that you'd have the time to make a set for my husband, Jared."

"I see."

A quizzical glance in Hannah's direction didn't enlighten Rilla. She forged on. "Our twentieth anniversary is coming up in a few months, and I think this would make a perfect gift. Would you be able to take this commission? How do you go about doing this? Granger's tie pin just seemed to reflect him to the bone. Would that be possible for someone you don't know?

Hannah regarded Rilla for a second, surprised that Rilla had been sharp enough to see Colby in her design. And pleased. Not many people noticed that sort of thing.

"You could tell me about your husband, things you love about him, things he likes," Hannah replied softly, curious now, about this woman.

Rilla's eyes lit up as she started talking about Jared, and before either of them realized it, they'd talked for about half an hour. "Oh, goodness, I didn't mean to be here this long. I'm going to be in later than I'd anticipated," Rilla exclaimed as she looked at her watch.

"You won't get into trouble, will you?"

"Oh, no, I'm a contractor, and I've been working a lot of hours. I just don't like to give anyone the opportunity to complain. Face time still matters, even if you put in more than your fair share of hours," Rilla explained. She smiled as she continued, "This particular contract has turned out to be easier to work on than I had expected."

Hannah raised an eyebrow.

Rilla laughed. "Well, just in the interpersonal sense really. I've never thought about it much, but agents are people too. I just never expected to get along with them as well as I have. Sinclair and Granger, in particular have been friendly. The banter has made it easier. And listening to Granger talk about you, well, it's been heartwarming. When I first met him, I thought he would turn out to be a bit of an alley cat, but he's always talking about you, and his eyes light up when he talks about you. It's very sweet. And very unexpected."

She paused then said thoughtfully, "You know, if I could have had children, I would have liked a son like Granger." She laughed. "Ignore that. It's just fanciful thinking."

Hannah smiled, softening. "You think of Colby like a son?"

Rilla grinned, "Don't tell him. He'll be unbearable. Some holiday weekend, when Jared comes out to join me here, I want to introduce them. I think they'll get along really well." She looked at Hannah curiously, she seemed to have relaxed a little. "Was something wrong earlier? You seemed a little on edge when I first came in."

Surprised at the older woman's acuity, Hannah hesitated, "It's... nothing. Really. Just some rumors."

"Rumors?" Then Rilla's eyebrows shot up as she made a wild connection. "About Granger and myself? What kind of rumors?"

"Rilla, it doesn't matter now."

"Yes, it does! What kind of rumors?" Rilla was angry now. "There's been nothing but friendly banter. That's just sick!"

"I'll take care of it, Rilla, I promise. It's just been a really difficult situation, and I don't want to make it worse. Please just let me handle it. And, don't mention it to Colby either. I have some patching up to do there."

-----

Colby was ready to tear something apart. The CDs were yielding a lot of information, but no names were used and they would only be able to use them as evidence if they could match the voice prints to actual people. He was still worried about Hannah, but it looked like another long day with the blasted CDs. He saw Robin come in with sad eyes and wondered where Don was. He saw Rilla come in with storm clouds in her eyes and wondered about that. Everyone seemed worried about the case, and worried about something else. His cell phone rang just then, and he answered it with some trepidation when he saw Hannah's number.

"Colby?" Hannah said softly, then hesitated.

"Hey, sweetheart. Are you okay?" he replied gently.

"Yeah. A little embarrassed. I'm sorry about last night. I guess it's a good thing that you find out about my filthy temper early on," she said quietly.

"It was fairly minor compared to others I've seen."

"Rilla stopped by the store this morning. Anyway, I'm convinced now that nothing happened between you two."

Colby went on the alert, "What happened at the store?"

Hannah sighed, "Nothing really. We went over what she wanted for her husband. She knows now that someone said something, but she doesn't know who, and I'd rather she not know. I don't want her to have problems with Robin. I really like her, Colby. Anyway, will you come by tonight? We can talk some more."

"I'll come by as soon as I can, honey, and I'll try to make it earlier than it was last night. Don't fret, okay?" he said gently, wishing he could reach out and hug her. "I'll see you later."

-----


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Do you have a minute, Robin?" Megan said quietly as Robin passed her.

"What's wrong?" Robin looked worried, afraid that something might have happened to Don.

"Nothing that I know of. Unless there's something you'd like to talk about."

The gentle words almost made her cry, but Robin swallowed hard, and managed to control the tears that threatened to spill. She sighed, "I don't really think I should talk to you about this."

"I know you're worried about Don."

"I don't want to put you in a difficult position, Megan."

"Why don't you let me worry about that? I think you know me well enough to know that I can keep work and friendship separate. Want to go somewhere quieter?" Megan got up at Robin's nod, and grabbed some Kleenex when Robin's back was to her.

When they got to the empty conference room, Robin seemed unable to settle down. Megan sat quietly, watching her. Finally, Robin seemed to come to a decision. She'd set her jaw and a determined look had settled around her lovely features.

"Before the Hague case, Don had been preoccupied, and seemed a little strained. I tried to find out what was going on, but he was evasive. Since we started working out of the command center here, he hasn't been around much. And when he has been, he hasn't wanted to talk to me."

Megan nodded encouragingly.

Robin took a deep breath. "I think he's cheating on me."

There was silence as Megan evaluated Robin's statement. Then she said slowly, "I'll agree that Don hasn't been himself, and been acting strangely. But I don't think he's the kind of man who would cheat on someone he cared about."

"Is that the profiler talking?"

Megan smiled, "Yes, and no. It's also his co-worker and his friend talking. I've worked with him for a while now, and he's an honorable man. I just don't see that happening. Why did you decide that's what it had to be? It could really be anything."

"I don't know. I couldn't think what else it could be." Robin paused, then sighed. "In all honesty, I think that's my biggest fear."

"Do you think you might be projecting that fear? Just a little?"

"Oh, God, Megan, I hope that's all it is! I don't know if I could handle it if he really were cheating on me!"

Megan watched Robin struggle again for control. "You need to talk to him. Get his attention. I'll help you if it doesn't look like he's aware you're doing that. You can't do this to yourself." She paused and eyed Robin. "Are you projecting this fear elsewhere?"

"What makes you say that?"

"I overheard Colby mention to David that he'd had a fight with Hannah."

"Oh, no." Robin looked horrified.

"Talk to Don, Robin. You can't go on like this. I think Colby and Hannah are working through it, but you need to settle down. You're in charge of this task force. You can't afford to lose control."

-----

"Megan! Robin! I think I've found something," Rilla was excited. "We've been struggling with getting the data into the data warehouse so this is really the first chance I've had of looking at these claims that were in the safe deposit box. Look at these claims for chronic dialysis. Together they make up a set that just fit within M&R guidelines for medically necessary services."

Rilla stopped when Megan touched her arm, laughing. "You'll need to translate that into English. You're almost as bad as Charlie!"

"Almost as bad but not half as smart. That's a terrible deal!" Rilla laughed as well. "M&R stands for Milliman and Robertson. They lead a team of doctors who determine what is considered medically necessary. These determinations are now in knowledge bases used by various different claims software for processing claims. Most software will automatically adjudicate, meaning process and pay, claims that fit within M&R guidelines. In other words, they don't trigger any audits."

"So this fraud could be happening to insurance companies as well, not just to Medicare and Medicaid." The fire was back in Robin's eyes.

"That's right! And I'm willing to bet that these other claims can also be placed in sets, and that they'll also fit within M&R guidelines. I'm going to call Charlie and let him know. Maybe he can come up with an algorithm the programmers can use to identify all the sets we have in the data warehouse. Then we can analyze who the doctors or hospitals are, and who the patients are! Find the trends to see if we can find the fraud." Rilla could barely contain her excitement.

"And maybe trace them back to Hague and whoever Hague worked for." Megan smiled in some relief. The case had been going nowhere fast.

-----

"Amita, Rilla just called. She's found the correlation between some of the claims. Megan would like us to come up with an algorithm for the data warehouse programmers. Find the trends. They're also sending the claims images to a company called GTESS. They'll use optical character recognition and transfer the claims data to the data warehouse. Oh, and Megan wants to know where we are on cracking the encryption."

There was silence as Amita digested this information. "Megan wanted to know? Not Don?"

Charlie looked up, puzzled. "Yeah, Megan wanted to know. Is that a problem?"

"No, not a problem. I was just curious. It's like your brother's dropped off the face of the earth or something. He's usually all up in your face, wanting answers." Amita shrugged, and went back to what she was doing.

"Megan mentioned that she'd hardly seen Don the last few days," Larry mused, half to himself.

Charlie looked at both of them. He'd never even noticed. He'd have to talk to his father to find out if he knew what was going on with Don.

-----

Colby thought the day would never end. Don never came in, and Megan decided again that it wouldn't hurt to leave at a reasonable time. They'd made good progress, both on the audio and on the claims information. It had taken him a while but he'd finally tracked down a florist who had primroses and purple hyacinths. He balanced the bouquet plus the tiramisu and creme brulee in one hand as he unlocked the door to Hannah's apartment with the other.

He grinned as the fragrance of Hannah's lasagna wafted to the door. Hannah was a fabulous cook but that was his favorite of Hannah's repertoire. He headed for the kitchen.

"Where should I put these?" He said softly when he got to the kitchen.

Hannah turned around and her eyes widened at the sight of the bouquet. Tears filled her eyes.

"Oh no. Don't do that." Colby panicked, dropping everything onto the kitchen table and gathered Hannah in his arms. "I feel helpless when you cry. And that tears me up inside."

Hannah hugged him close. "Do you know what those flowers mean, Colby?"

"Yes."

She looked up at his serious face, searching his eyes. And her face lit up with a tender smile. She kissed him, her tongue slid across his lower lip and then in to tease his tongue. "You don't have anything to apologize for, Colby," she murmured in his ear.

"It was inadvertent, but it still made you cry. I thought I was going to lose you and I realized I couldn't deal with the thought of being without you."

"Come on, I'll put those in a vase and we can have dinner. What are these?" Hannah looked into the paper bag, and laughed with delight when she discovered the tiramisu and creme brulee, her favorite desserts. She glanced at him from under her lashes, her dark eyes bright with promises for the evening to come.

-----

Robin opened the door to find Don at her doorstep. Her eyes widened in surprise. Don sent her a rueful smile.

"I saw Megan at the office."

She looked at him for a few more seconds, and he returned her gaze, wondering what she would do. She took a step back, opened the door a little wider, then stepped away from the door. She headed to her living room, not looking to see if he would follow her. She settled into her favorite spot on her sofa, and watched him.

"I have some explaining to do," Don said quietly.

She continued to watch him, her expression serene.

He sighed, and sat at the edge of the sofa, facing her. "Her name is Reggie. Regina Wise."

Robin flinched.

He reached for her hands, but she pulled away from him. Her eyes were bright now, shimmering with unshed tears.

"I met her on my first case, a few months after I graduated from Quantico." He saw her look up at him in surprise. He smiled again, just as ruefully as before. "I'd got lost in the Arizona desert, no one for miles around. She pulled up in a Chevy Nova, and had the sass to race me while she was showing me the way to the next town. I fell in love with her."

She was curious now.

"After a few months of driving from Phoenix to Gary where she lived, just so I could see her on the weekends, I couldn't stand it anymore and asked her to move in with me. And she did. I was learning my way around the FBI, and she was racing her Nova in some of the more prestigious races in the area. We lived together for about two years." Don paused, shadows in his eyes as he struggled with some inner demon.

"What happened?" she asked gently, reaching out to touch his hand.

"I came home one day and she was gone." He swallowed a lump in his throat.

"Did she leave you?"

"She disappeared. Her Nova was gone. But everything else was still there. All her clothes, jewelry, everything else she owned. Dinner was in the oven. The table was set. Even her purse was still there. Only thing out of that purse was her wallet. Everything indicated that she had just run out on an errand."

"What do you think happened?"

"I don't know. I did everything I could to trace her. I spent months following leads, calling in favors. Nothing." Don sighed. He looked into Robin's eyes. "After a while, I went into Fugitive Recovery. I didn't care if I lived or died. But I never stopped looking for her."

She gazed in his eyes for a minute and then nodded. "Have you been following a new lead?"

"Just some old ones. It affects me the most around this time every year," he said softly.

Understanding dawned in Robin's eyes. "Is this the anniversary of her disappearance?"

Don nodded. "I never got over her. And I think it's one of the things that affected all my relationships through the years."

"You still love her." It was a statement. Somehow Robin knew it was true.

"Yes."

"What about us?"

Don knelt in front of her and reached for her hands. This time she let him take them. He kissed her knuckles and held her hands against his chest. "I don't know what happened to Reggie. Over the years, I've found no trace of her or her Nova. I don't know if she's alive or dead. I don't know if she left me of her own accord, or if something terrible happened to her. I don't even know if what happened to her had anything to do with any of my cases. I will continue to look for her until the day I'm no longer able." He gazed into Robin's eyes. "I also know that life goes on, and I need to live my life. I promise that I will never cheat on you. I care very deeply for you, and I will never willfully hurt you. I'm very sorry that I was inconsiderate and that I didn't tell you about this sooner."

"What happens if you find her?"

"I don't know," Don said quietly. His heart ached when she pulled her hands away. Then he brightened when she cupped her hands on his face. He put his arms around her and pulled her into his embrace.

"We'll face that together." Robin said softly.

-----


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Are you alright?" Larry asked gently. He smiled as Megan turned to face him. "You were several light years away."

Megan laughed, "You have a way with words like no one else I know, Larry."

He smiled at that, gently brushed her hair out of her eyes, and tucked the errant strands behind her ear. His fingers trailed along her earlobe, then his thumb caressed her cheek. He saw Megan's lips part, and, ever so faintly, tremble. Fascinated by that tremble, his fingers gently traced her lower lip. "What were you thinking about?"

She wasn't sure she could concentrate. His gentle exploration had made her aware of nerve endings she never knew she had. "Larry, I... I can't think when you do that."

Drawing back to give her some space, he acknowledged her statement with another smile. He picked up a paperweight and started turning in over in his hands, settling in his chair to listen to her. Her eyes followed that paperweight for a moment before she spoke. "Just hoping that Robin and Don work things out. Don mentioned, when I saw him, that the director is changing our involvement in Robin's task force. We'll still be on it, but we'll be going back to covering other cases. He says he can't afford to have us full time on just one case. Robin doesn't strike me as someone who would handle that well, even without the problems they're having."

Wondering if she'd imagined that ghost of a grin passing across Larry's cherubic countenance, she laughed and asked, "What? What are you smiling about?"

"Do you profile everyone you meet?"

"Hazards of the job," she said, a little ruefully. She gathered herself, "I'm sure David and Colby will be glad to get back out on the field."

"How are Colby and Hannah doing? She's like the bright north star, steady and unwavering."

Megan regarded Larry thoughtfully with a half smile, "You're not half bad at profiling, yourself, Dr. Fleinhardt."

He grimaced at the honorific, "I feel old when you call me that." He was quiet for a moment. "You never answered my question."

She hesitated, "Which question?"

"Are you alright?"

Touched by the tenderness, Megan answered, "I think so." At his raised eyebrows, she shrugged, "Just a little worn out by all the events and the emotions."

Larry nodded sympathetically. Reaching for one of her hands, he asked, "When do you get some time off?"

Laughing softly, she asked, "Why?"

"Well, if you must know, I thought we could go away for the weekend of your birthday," he replied, a smile playing around his lips.

"Oh, I think something can be arranged," she flashed him that brilliant smile he loved.

Still smiling, Megan thought about the turn of events that brought about this relationship. She wasn't sure that she would ever had the occasion to meet a professor of physics, let alone date him, if she hadn't joined Don's team. Then she couldn't think anymore as Larry began a gentle exploration of her hand. His thumbs massaged her palm, in alternating circular motion, slowly, with just enough pressure to ease the tension. Then holding her hand in one of his, he traced the lines in her palm, ever so lightly, with the fingers of his other hand. Megan considered herself a tactile person, but she'd never felt the nerve endings in her hand quite like she was feeling them now. She'd never realized that a hand exploration could be quite so erotic. Just as she thought she would scream from the pleasure of his ministrations, he placed a kiss in the palm of her hand, and closed her fingers over it. Then he pulled her into his embrace.

-----

"Everything alright, Colby?" Don asked, when he saw the younger man settle in.

Colby looked up, surprised and a little puzzled. "Yeah, thanks! Robin signed the paperwork for the transfer of the money. It's slow going on the audios we haven't had any luck on names yet, but there's lots of good info."

Don smiled, "I meant with Hannah. I spoke to both Megan and Robin last night."

"Ah. Well, actually, yes. It's fine there too." Colby was quiet for a moment, thinking about the night before. He said slowly, "I'm very lucky to have Hannah. The thought of losing her..." he trailed off.

"I know what you mean."

There was an awkward silence, then Colby took a deep breath and asked, "So, is everything alright with you? Hannah and Olivia, well, they've been concerned."

Don chuckled at that, "I can imagine. Yes, it's fine. Thanks!" He nodded to Megan and David as they walked in. "The Assistant Director is asking us to take on other cases. He can't afford for us to be entirely focused on the Fraud task force." He barely caught the weary expressions that flitted across the two men's faces, before they were quickly masked. There was no reaction from Megan, because he'd told her the night before. "We'll just keep doing the best we can," Don was already resigned to that fact.

Robin wasn't happy, Don reflected, but she wasn't saying very much. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, even though he didn't really have much to do with the decision. He would have rather continued with the fraud case than have to split time amongst several cases. It was also a huge hassle to move the command center down the hallway so they could have their conference rooms back.

-----

A day later, Don was glad that they had moved the command center. A real estate agent had gone on a rampage, shooting up the bullpen that his team used. One of the shots had missed him and Charlie by inches. At least he knew Robin and the rest of the fraud team was safe. While waiting to get back into the building, he saw the rest of his team on their cellphones, presumably letting their loved ones know that they were safe. The news teams had been crawling all over this one.

"I'm alright, Hannah," Don heard Colby say as he walked past him. "I don't know when I'll be home. This is a hot one." David and Megan were saying something similar. Don figured he'd better let his dad know. Charlie had hightailed it back to CalSci, seemingly unable to cope with the events of the day.

Rilla couldn't stop shaking. She saw Don moving around, getting updates, issuing orders. He seemed to be managing just fine, but she figured he was trained for that sort of thing. It was Robin who amazed her, staying so calm, when the bullet had come so close to Don.

"Are you alright?" Robin said to the older woman.

"I will be," Rilla replied, "I figure I'll stop shaking as soon as I start working again. What about you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine now that I can see that Don's okay." She paused, "Selfishly, I'm glad they moved us down the hall. But I wonder if this shooting would have happened if they hadn't been moved to cover other cases." Then half to herself, "I should call Hannah and Olivia, make sure they're okay."

Hannah choked on a sob when Colby hung up to continue the investigation. The news footage had terrified her, but he seemed so calm and so matter-of-fact on the phone. She could just barely hear David in the background, apparently talking to Olivia, but he sounded calm too. How did they do it? She was going to have to figure out how to deal with situations like this if she wanted this relationship with Colby to work. She sighed with some relief when she saw Olivia's name light up on her cellphone. She needed someone to talk to and Olivia would understand, she was in the same situation.

"David's okay. Oh, God, he's okay," the usually calm Olivia was shaking. "And Colby's okay too, from what I could make out. Seemed like he was talking to you when David called me," Olivia was no stranger to shootings, the community center she worked at was in a rough neigborhood. She caught her breath as she realized how much David had come to mean to her.

"I know," Hannah said softly, "They can be really annoying at times. Especially when they work those long hours. But when something like that happens..." she trailed off.

"They're fine, Hannah, and they'll get whoever's behind this. I'm sure of it."

-----

Colby's head was spinning as he sat down at his desk. Restricted duty. He swallowed hard as he thought about the strange turn of events. About how it had been his bullet that had killed McCall. He thought briefly about calling Hannah, but decided against it. He had work to do, even if it wasn't out in the field. And she already knew that he wouldn't be home much while they worked this case.

"He's hanging tough, Hannah," Megan said gently into the phone. She didn't think Colby would have called Hannah, but she felt that Hannah needed to know. "He's thrown himself even harder into this investigation, if that were even possible."

"Should I be doing anything?" Hannah asked. This was new territory for her.

"Just be there for him when it's over. It was a clean shoot, there's no doubt about it. It's really just red tape."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Olivia spent the next couple of evenings with Hannah. David was working the case anyway, and she thought Hannah could use the company. Hannah had heard very little from Colby while he dealt with the fact that his bullet killed a man. A sex offender, no doubt, but still, it was difficult for them to fathom what that was like. Robin and Megan, but mostly Robin, kept them up to date with the case. Nonetheless, Olivia was impressed with how Hannah was marshalling herself, in order to be there for Colby when the case was finally over. She wondered if she would do as well, but hoped she would never have to find out.

There was a knock on the door and Hannah rushed to open it. David was at the door, grinning and supporting a very drunk Colby.

"Hey, baby!" Colby lurched into the apartment and wrapped his arms around Hannah, and started to kiss her, noisily. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Olivia raised her eyebrows at David.

"He's had a few beers," David said, still grinning.

"I'd say that was the understatement of the year," Olivia replied dryly, but relief sent her into his arms, and then she was hugging him tightly to her.

"He needed to talk. But he wanted to come back here to you, even though he's drunk," David told Hannah, who nodded. She had tears shimmering in her eyes, but she looked happy.

David helped Hannah get Colby onto the couch. Then he and Olivia left.

"I'm sh-orry, baby, I'm sh-orry. I didn't mean to shut you out but I was barely dealing with it mysh-elf," murmured Colby, the alcohol in him slurring his words.

"It's okay, honey. I understand. Why don't you get some sleep, and we'll talk about it in the morning." Then Hannah laughed, because he'd already fallen asleep. She made him as comfortable as she could, and pulled a comforter over him.

-----

"Cindra," Colby was laughing, "Again? You're insatiable!"

The blonde regarded him with some amusement, "Somehow, I don't think you're going to have a problem." She nodded at his crotch. Colby grinned, and grabbed her by the waist. He tossed her down on the bed next to him. She laughed and said accusingly, "You just like to see my breasts bouncing."

"That and the fact that you do like it a little rough." He grinned down at her realization that he'd cuffed her to the headrails. "Makes your 44DD breasts perk up," he murmured in her ear, "inviting me to untold pleasures."

"We're going to be late," Cindra giggled.

"I can't remember the last time you were really worried about being late, let alone for something like homecoming," Colby chuckled in her ear, the husky timbre of his voice blazing an erotic trail down her earlobe to her neck.

He spread her legs, and rested his hard-on against her. He grinned when she moved her hips restlessly, moaning with the pleasure the friction was giving her. He cupped her breasts together, and began to tease her nipples, first swirling his tongue over one, then the other. Then he sucked on each nipple, making her cry out, sucking each nipple in turn into his mouth through his upper and lower front teeth. The intense pleasure of his teeth raking over her nipples seemed to make her grind her hips even more. She was already dripping, and starting to beg for more. "Just another minute," he teased, as his fingers squeezed her nipples, while he licked and kissed his way around the soft curve of her breasts. "Now." And he was thrusting hard into her.

She screamed as he entered her, loving the invasion, loving how he filled her. She could hear her own soft, guttural moans, as he thrust harder and faster into her, just the way she liked it.

Colby made a soft sound into her hair as he orgasmed.

And woke up.  
To find Hannah looking at him, amusement brimming in her eyes.

"This Cindra. College girlfriend?" Hannah was laughing now, at the discomfort in his face, and the wet patch in his pants.

Colby sighed. "I can't believe I had a dream about her. It's been years."

"Are you going to tell me about her? She didn't disappear on you or anything like that, did she?"

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Colby all but growled at her.

"Yes."

Sighing again, Colby sat up, and tried to find a comfortable position. "Cindra Ashford," he mused. "I met her in college. I used to call her Sin. Steeped in Sin, that's what I was, all through college," Colby was grinning now.

"Did you love her?" Hannah asked curiously.

"Enough to ask her to marry me," Colby said quietly, meeting her eyes. Hannah raised her eyebrows.

"I think she's always loved someone else back home. Because she turned me down and went back to him, after we graduated. I think they have a son now."

Hannah slid her arms around him to comfort him. He smiled down at her. "She sent me a letter while I was in Afghanistan. That's how she always was, just really sweet. I don't think she ever meant to hurt me. I think she cared a lot about me, but in the end she loved him more."

He put his arms around her and hugged her close, "But I have you now."

Hannah wrinkled her nose, "Yes, you have me to tell you that you stink of beer and you need to take a shower." She grinned, "Then we'll see about making sure you only dream about me."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The next morning, Colby looked a little warily at Hannah. He had got up a little later than usual, because he didn't have to be in the office bright and early. That meant he was actually there when Hannah woke up, for a change. She was now just about done getting ready. It was obvious she was not a morning person.

"Coffee?" He'd made some of her favorite kona coffee.

"Mmmm, yeah," she said on a sigh. "That's the only way I can get going in the mornings."

"I don't remember everything from last night," Colby decided to face it early on.

Laughing at his expression, Hannah said, "Well, you told me about Cindra Ashford."

"I do remember that much," Colby said wryly. "Did I say anything else after the shower?"

She smiled gently, "Just a little about Afghanistan. Are you still on restricted duty?"

Colby heaved a sigh, "Yes. I think I'm to focus on the fraud case until the restriction's lifted. So I'll be working with Rilla and Robin for the rest of the week. Still, it means there's a better possibility that I'll be home at a reasonable time."

-----

Hannah couldn't help smiling when she found herself thinking of the events from the night before. Colby had been a funny drunk. And that wet dream he'd had, well, it'd just been hysterically funny to her. She'd only heard two words clearly when she saw him tossing while in the throes of the dream, just enough to tell her that it'd been about someone named Cindra, and that they were going to homecoming. Still, he'd been open with her about Cindra. She didn't think it had been because of the alcohol.

She sobered up a little when her thoughts moved on to some of the other things he'd told her after he'd showered. He'd been all snuggled up against her, his head on her bosom, drowsy and still under the influence of the alcohol. He might not have told her about the soldiers who'd been killed by friendly fire otherwise.

All in all, he was probably handling it very well. It saddened her to think of the price soldiers had to pay in the service of their country. Especially since they were probably never thanked for it. After all, she couldn't remember ever saying thanks to any of them.

-----

"Rilla, one of the audios discusses something called back-billing. Do you know what that is?" Colby was back in the command center, listening to the audios that they'd confiscated from the safe deposit box.

"Sure. Back-billing is used to correct previous billing errors for treatments rendered. Why?"

"It's apparently some kind of seminar these guys offer. They're charging thousands of dollars to teach physicians how to increase their collections, by using extra billing codes to charge insurance companies for past treatments."

Robin looked appalled. "Someone's making money showing people how to bilk the government of money?"

Rilla sighed, "I'll have Charlie work on another algorithm to find large amounts paid due to back-billing. We'll be able to come up with a list of physicians that we can then audit more closely."

Colby nodded. "There's also something else about setting up separate medical equipment companies to supply their dialysis clinics. Something about $500 more per patient in billing."

Rilla regarded him thoughtfully, "That doesn't sound like something you can get directly from claims data. Maybe, we can focus on matching patients who have bills for both dialysis and durable medical equipment. We might be able to find out which physician pairings occur most frequently. I'll give Charlie that information too."

"I think I'm going to take another look at those off-shore accounts. See where the money flows," Colby said. "Sounds like they're moving large amounts of money, they have to move it somewhere."

"Okay, I'll see if Charlie can stop by and I'll see if he has a better idea of how to get this data together."

Then she said gently, "How are you holding up, Colby?"

He looked up to see gentle concern on her face. He smiled at her, "Thanks, Rilla, but I'm fine."

When it became obvious to her that he wasn't going to say anymore, she said, "Just don't drive me crazy with your fidgeting while you're on restricted duty."

Robin cracked up at Rilla's expression when Colby retorted, "Well, you wouldn't have far to go, would you?"

-----

"Lunch, Robin?"

Robin turned in surprise at the sound of Don's voice. He'd been crazy busy wrapping up the paperwork on the shooting rampage, and she'd hardly seen him.

His face was creased in that attractive grin she found irresistable, and she smiled in response to it.

"I have lunch plans with Hannah," she said softly.

"I'm buying," he coaxed. Then he grinned, "I'll order Colby to buy Hannah lunch."

She laughed, "I have a feeling you won't have to twist his arm much."

He smiled, happy to see her laughing, "Why are you having lunch with Hannah?"

"Giving me the third degree, Agent Eppes?" She teased.

He grinned but looked expectantly at her.

"I wanted some jewelry for the US Attorney's Ball next month," she relented. The hesitantly, she asked, "Would you have time to..."

"I'd love to take you, Robin," he said gently. "I assume it's black tie?"

Robin nodded, speechless that he'd offered to take her.

-----

Colby was amused when Don told him he had to take Hannah to lunch, but he was curious enough to give in without questioning.

Hannah raised her eyebrows when she saw him, but he shrugged and nodded towards Don and Robin, who had walked into the restaurant first.

"Don," she greeted him, smiling affectionately, "this is a surprise!"

"Yes, well, this is your lucky day. I'm buying lunch for everyone."

She laughed, "Well, I never turn down free food, but what's the occasion?"

Don smiled as he watched Colby lean in to give Hannah a kiss. "Just want to make sure that this beautiful woman has the best jewelry you can offer when she graces my arm at the US Attorney's Ball."

"And are you footing that bill too?" Hannah was laughing now, as Robin rolled her eyes.

"I most certainly am."

"Well, alright then, I'll make sure Robin gets the best and the most expensive," Hannah was still grinning. She was happy to see that the relationship was back on an even keel. "I'll have to ask a few questions. Are you sure you guys are up to girl talk?" She giggled when she saw Colby's pained expression.

Don tried to be magnanimous, "Talk away." He hoped it wouldn't be too painful. Well, he could always talk to Colby about sports or something.

"What are you wearing to the ball, Robin?"

He was amused to see Colby shake his head and shudder at that question, but before long, the two men had tuned out the women's conversation.

-----

When they got back to the office after lunch, Colby had to choke back some laughter at the bemused expression on Rilla's face. She was listening to Charlie, and he knew very well what she was feeling at that moment. Charlie was pontificating again, and this time it looked like he was doing it in tandem with Amita.

"Um, whatever patterns and correlations you two can find will be great, Charlie. You just have to take the guidelines I gave you into consideration."

"You understand that we can't wait to find out what the audios contain? There's several terabytes of data, we can't process and re-process these algorithms. It takes days of processing time each time we make a change or an addition to the algorithm."

Rilla nodded, "I understand that, Charlie. I'm just trying to help you limit errors by telling you some of the rules and relationships between these fields of data."

Charlie nodded, but she could tell he was no longer listening. It looked like his mind had already drifted off into algorithm-land. She sighed, well, he was the brilliant mathematician, she would trust him on this one. She watched him talk to Amita, and wondered if that's what they talked about in their free time as well.

"He's not freaking you out, is he?" Don touched her gently on her elbow.

She smiled up at him, "No, not freaking me out. But, well..."

He grinned, "I understand."

Rilla had to laugh, "Yes, I expect you do."

"Don, we've also discovered what was on the encrypted CDs!" Charlie interrupted them. "It was very simple really. They just changed the extension on the filename, and used a proprietary codec to encode the video."

It was Don's turn to look bemused. Charlie sighed. "Never mind. I re-encoded the video to a standard codec. You should be able to watch these videos on any of your computers."

"Okay, I'll get Colby on it. We'll see what we can get from the videos."

-----


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Colby knew something was up as soon as he stepped into Hannah's apartment. The lights were off, but she had candles everywhere. Floral scent, he thought, amused. "Hannah?"

"You're early!" she pouted at him. "I haven't got everything ready yet!"

Laughing, he said, "Want me to go back to work?"

"No, silly! We'll just have to make do." She slid her arms around him and hugged him close, glad to see him.

"What's with the candles?"

"Like you can't figure it out," she laughed.

He grinned and started to unbutton his shirt.

"Let me," Hannah whispered softly in Colby's ear, her breath gently caressing the rim of his ear. He stopped unbuttoning his shirt and slid his hands down her back, resting them at her waist. He watched to see what she would do, a smile playing on his lips.

She smiled up at him, and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. She pulled away slightly before he could deepen the kiss.

He sighed with resignation, knowing then that she was going to tease and play.

Laughing softly at his resigned grin, she splayed her hands on his chest, feeling his muscles through his shirt. Pressing gently as she went along, she moved up his chest to his shoulders, exploring him through his shirt. Then slowly, she unbuttoned his shirt. As she unbuttoned, she explored every inch of his chest that she exposed, first with her fingers in a gentle massaging motion, then with her lips and her tongue, kissing and licking her way down. Just as he looked ready to rip the shirt apart, she released the final button, and swirled her tongue around and into his belly button. She purred a laugh at his impatience.

Beginning at his abdomen now, she gently massaged her way up his abdomen, circular motions with her thumbs and a gentle squeezing of her hands. She continued her massage across his pecs, stopping to lick and nip gently on his nipples. He caught his breath as she sucked on one nipple. A soft moan escaped him when he realized she wasn't going to do the same on the other nipple.

He caught her chin with one hand and tilted her head up. He tried to lean in for a kiss, but she giggled and evaded him. He made a sound of frustration.

She pushed his shirt slightly off his shoulders. Just enough so she could massage his shoulders. Then, because it was her favorite spot, she pressed a kiss at his throat, and licked and kissed her way up that strong neck.

She sighed with pleasure, and that soft sigh made him shiver, and his nerve endings began to tingle. He started to pull his shirt off, but she stopped him with a soft, "Please let me."

"You're killing me, Hannah."

"Turn around for me." She began to massage his shoulders and down between his shoulder blades, slowly removing his shirt as she went along. She pulled one sleeve off, and pressed a kiss on his bicep, before squeezing the muscles in his arm in a gentle massage.

She moved on to the other arm, and pulled his shirt off, again massaging her way down his arm. She leaned in and rested her head on his back. She wrapped her arms around his waist, and unbuckled his belt.

His hands covered hers, as he tried to help her, but she nipped him in his back. He sighed and let her have her way. He was going out of his mind with the pleasure her slow ministrations was giving him, and he was ready to get out of his jeans. He had never realized how erotic it could be to be undressed slowly.

Finally, she'd unzipped his jeans, and was slowly sliding them off him. She was facing him now, crouched in front of him. In front of his hard-on. And all she'd done was undress him. He jumped a little as she rested her cheek on his hard-on.

She grinned mischievously up at him. When she'd got his jeans down around his ankles, she ran her hands around his thighs, again in that same circular motion, massaging the muscles on his thighs. She pushed his thighs apart a little, and he gasped as she nibbled on the softer skin on his inner thigh. She slid her hands up behind him, and squeezed his butt. Then ran her hands into his boxer briefs and pulled them down. She pushed him down on the bed and slid both briefs and jeans off.

She pulled several scarves out of her nightstand.

"What are those for?" He asked sharply, his eyes narrowing.

"I'm going to tie you to the headrails," she said solemnly, her eyes alight with laughter. "Surely, a big guy like you isn't afraid of these little bitty scarves?"

"No, we're not doing that," Colby said firmly, reaching to pull them away from her.

"Please?" she coaxed, "They're silk, you can always break loose from them."

He started to refuse again, but this time she kissed him, sliding her tongue in to caress his.

"Loose knot, I promise," she whispered softly against his lips.

Giving in, he let her tie his wrists to the headrails. He was finding it more and more difficult to refuse her anything.

She held to her promise and left the knots loose. Pushing his legs apart, she began nibbling her way up from the back of his knee to his inner thigh. He bucked a little, when she found a tender spot. She licked him gently, around his balls, then took them into her mouth, with gentle sucking motion. Then she hummed a little, and that almost sent him off the bed. She gave his balls a last lick then licked her way up the vein along the underside of his shaft. Gently, with one hand caressing his balls, and her other hand around his shaft, the thumb gently caressing the vein, she licked around the head of his shaft, and in the cleft. She could see him struggling for control.

"Do you not want to come?" she asked curiously.

"Not until you have as well," he replied, a little tersely. He was focusing everything he had on controlling himself. Then he groaned in even more frustration, when she slid off the bed. "Where are you going now?"

"Just to put some music on."

His head thumped back hard on the pillow in his frustration. He was going to die tonight. He just knew it. But he made no move to pull loose from the scarves. He heard the strains of "You can leave your hat on" come on in the living room.

She undressed slowly. She smiled when she saw his shaft respond to her stripping. His jaw was set firmly now though, and there was a gleam in his eye that told her he wasn't going to put up with much more. She undressed a little more quickly. Then she pulled out another scarf.

"What now?" He was breathing faster, short, quick breaths.

She slid the scarf around the base of his shaft, and tied it in a half knot. She slid it around again, and tied it again, tightening it a little more this time.

"I'd like to remind you at this juncture that it's a felony to kill a federal agent."

Hannah giggled. "It won't kill you. It's supposed to prolong the erection."

"Uh huh. Why do I feel like I'm dying?"

"Not for long."

She pushed his legs up, knees towards his chest. Then she straddled the back of his legs, moaning softly as she pushed herself down onto his shaft. She sat on the back of his legs for a few seconds, then realized that he'd moved his shins up under her arms, and crossed his ankles behind her back. She smiled, "You're pretty flexible, aren't you?"

He grinned, "So are you."

Holding on to his knees, she began to ride up and down. Slowly, but gradually increasing the rhythm. Before long she was moaning in pleasure. Then she felt his hands on her breasts, squeezing and teasing her nipples. He'd pulled loose of the silk restraints. Then his hands went around her bottom, and helped her with her rhythm. For a while, there was just the gentle motion, and the pleasure of the movement. Then slowly, the pleasure began to build. In quick smooth motion, he had her on her back, and he was thrusting hard, unable to wait any longer. Then before long, they both climaxed.

"Oh, God, Hannah," was all he could manage, as he rolled onto his back, and pulled her into his arms.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Colby's even breathing told Hannah that he'd fallen asleep. She smiled with satisfaction. The events of the last few days had been traumatic for him. She had done what she could to be there for him, but he'd kept his own counsel on most of it. They hadn't had much of a chance to relax with each other, but she hadn't wanted to press him. Although she wasn't ready to sleep, she didn't stir. He was a light sleeper, and she wanted him to get all the sleep he could. Besides, she was pretty sure he would wake up at some point. They hadn't had dinner yet, and he'd never, to her knowledge, missed a meal.

"What are you thinking about?" Colby's sleepy query broke into her thoughts.

Hannah raised her head and rested her chin on his chest to look at him. His eyelids were still heavy with sleep, drooping over those sexy, bedroom eyes.

"That was a short nap."

Colby smiled sleepily, "You were thinking so loudly, it woke me up."

She laughed. "God save me from light sleepers." She laid her head back on his shoulder.

He reached down to kiss her on her forehead. He pulled her a little closer, and she slid her arms around him for a hug.

"Hannah, I should say it more often than I do, but I really appreciate you putting up with everything. The crazy hours of the job, emotional baggage, everything. It never seems to bother you, and more than one person's mentioned how much they envy that."

There was a moment's silence while Hannah decided on how to respond. "Well, except for that one time, you've not exactly been there to see the fits I pitch," she trailed off.

Colby was startled into laughter.

"I'm not exactly proud of them," she continued, ruefully. "It's hardly reasonable to pitch a fit if you're working hard on solving a case, or if you're struggling with the fact that you've just shot a man. Kind of puts a ruined dinner on the not-so-important list, you know?"

He pressed another kiss on her forehead, and rested his cheek on the top of her head. "I'm given to understand that doesn't stop everyone. That also doesn't mean I can't do a better job of letting you know."

She grinned, and rolled on top of him so her chin was resting on his chest again. "You certainly could," she said solemnly, "and I'm going to punish you because you haven't been." Then she blew a loud raspberry in the middle of his chest. Colby looked amused. "That didn't tickle you at all, did it?" she demanded, a little put out.

"Nope," he said. "You're the ticklish one." And he flipped her over and blew a raspberry on her neck, sending her into fits of giggles. Grinning, he leaned down to kiss her. And they both burst into laughter when his stomach growled. "Come on, I'll take you out to dinner."

"There's beef stew on the stove," she said. "Did you really think I wouldn't plan dinner?"

"Just didn't want to take it for granted."

Hannah pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and watched in amusement when he only pulled his boxer briefs on. "You going to eat dinner in your underwear?"

"Why not?"

She chuckled, "Okay."

He put out some of the candles while she warmed up the beef stew and heated up some rolls. Then he pulled her into his lap at the dining table.

She laughed, "What are you doing?"

He grinned, "Just want you close. We can eat like this, can't we? We can feed each other."

Laughing again, Hannah settled in. They were quiet for a while, the occasional grin when food was spilled, or Hannah's giggles when she licked spilled stew off him.

"I think Olivia's finally realizing how much David means to her. I'd been thinking that she wasn't quite serious about him, until the shooting at the office." Hannah told Colby.

"He's crazy about her. So I guess I'm glad she does care a lot about him, even if she's only just now realizing it. He's a good guy."

"Don and Robin looked happier, when we were at lunch the other day."

Colby smiled, "It was funny how he accompanied her to lunch and ended up talking to me all through lunch. You women and dresses!" He smirked.

"It's a formal ball!" Hannah protested. "She's going to be beautiful! They're going to look really good together. Olivia and I are going to Robin's to help her get ready for the ball."

"You don't think she's learned how to get dressed all by herself?" Colby rolled his eyes.

"Just a few special touches. You guys are just too cavalier about that sort of thing. I wonder if Don knows how to dance?" Hannah mused.

Colby shrugged.

"I finished Megan's birthday gift. Dr. Fleinhardt's all excited about it. I think he's taking her to a cabin in the mountains on the weekend of her birthday."

That amused Colby. "You know, I never would have figured for them to get together."

"He's really sweet. I love listening to him talk, even though I'm not sure what he's saying half the time! Oh, and the jewelry I designed for Amita looks fabulous on her. Did you know Charlie came by and asked me to set one of those aside? He's going to surprise her with it. I never would have figured he would think of something like that. He's like in his own world all the time I've seen him."

"You're making out like a bandit, aren't you?"

Hannah laughed softly, "Yeah, the perks of dating an FBI agent."

He hugged her. He was feeling mellow and relaxed, and it made him happy to see her happy.

"It's really Megan's friends who are making a huge difference in sales. I had no idea her family was on the social register. All her friends are coming to the store, and making referrals. I'm going to have to hire an additional artisan just to take care of those sales."

"I didn't know that about Megan." was Colby's thoughtful response. Megan was a private person, and he only knew her in the context of their job.

Hannah nodded, "I supposed it really wouldn't come up at work. She's a very generous hearted person. So is Robin. She's referred her friends and her coworkers to the store. All in all, dating you has turned out to be very lucrative," she teased.

"It's almost funny how people are pairing off," Colby mused, half to himself, "emotional baggage and all."

"Well, it's not like anyone's perfect, Colby. We all just do the best we can. Deal with things when they happen." She was quiet for a moment, the she said softly, "How are you managing, honey? With the shooting?"

Colby was quiet for so long, Hannah didn't think he was going to answer.

Then he said slowly, "It's still hard to wrap my head around it. It's still my bullet that killed him. And I'll have to live with that. I've been trained to kill, but it doesn't mean I've had to do it, and it definitely doesn't mean I like doing it." He hugged her close. "I'm going to manage though. I always have."

They were both quiet for a minute, then Colby grinned, "Working with Rilla's been a hoot though. She definitely doesn't let anything get her down. She finds the silver lining in everything. She's fond of saying that if you can't laugh about it then life isn't worth it."

Hannah smiled, she'd liked the older woman when they'd had a chance to talk. "Why don't you ask her over for dinner some time. It can't be fun to be away from home like that all the time."

"And you'll want to make it a big get-together because you'll just have to ask Olivia, and if you ask Olivia, you'll have to ask the other ladies, and if you ask the ladies, you'll have to ask their significant other, and so on," Colby said wryly.

She giggled. He had her pegged. "It'll be fun though! Have the baseball game going on TV, wine and beer, it'll be a good time!"

"Hannah, do you want to go out for a movie or something? We don't always have this opportunity."

"Not dressed the way you are!" she laughed. "Actually, I thought we could play some more," she grinned at him. "I have a few more silk scarves."

She shrieked with laughter when he put her over his shoulder and headed for the bedroom, "You're not using those silk scarves on me ever again. But, I could use them on you!"


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"The coroner's report finally came back, Don, but it doesn't tell us anything we don't already know. Two 22 caliber bullets in the head," Colby said, when Don came into the command center the next day for his daily status report.

Don nodded, there was nothing unexpected there, "What about the death threats? Anything there?"

"There were death threats on the audio as well, the same voice each time. Says pretty much the same thing as the letters. Looks like generic 18# general purpose paper you can get at any office supply store. I'm trying to find out if it's possible narrow down the printer model that produced the letters. Hague must have thrown out the envelopes the threats came in, none were found at the scene. It would have helped in isolating where they were mailed from."

"What about the off-shore accounts?"

"Well, they're being as helpful as they need to be."

Don frowned, "What does that mean?"

"They're providing us information with the accounts as it pertains to the US. They're not divulging any information regarding transactions that go to other off-shore accounts or to Swiss numbered accounts, at least, not unless we have specific account numbers for them. So following the money trail has been a little slow going."

Sighing, Don nodded to Colby, "Alright, just keep at it. We want to take advantage of you being on restricted duty to get as much done on this case as we can. Once you're back on field duty, it'll be split time again."

Colby looked hopefully at Don, "Any news when that will be?"

"Just a few more days, Colby," Don felt for the younger man. "Are you going to get started on the videos that Charlie, re.. um.."

"Re-encoded. Yeah, I'll get started on that in a bit. Maybe we'll get lucky there."

Don turned to Rilla, "How's Charlie coming along with the data?"

She smiled sweetly at him, "Good morning, Agent Eppes, I'm fine, thank you for asking."

Colby stifled a grin and turned to his own work. Robin didn't have any qualms about it, she laughed at the chagrin on Don's face.

Rilla continued, "Charlie isn't too happy with me for changing some of the criteria, but the updated algorithm is in place, and they've started processing it. They've timed the first gigabyte or so of data, and think it will take at least another day to process the rest of the data."

Don sighed. It had been just one obstacle after another.

"However, Charlie did get me subsets of the data based on those pre-filled claim forms. I looked at chronic dialysis services in particular. Gimbel Healthcare accounts for more than 65 of the billing for chronic dialysis services. That comes out to about $1 billion in billed charges resulting in about $650M in payment received. That's a very high percentage of the overall payment for those services." Rilla paused to catch her breath.

"Why hasn't anyone noticed any of this before?" Robin wanted to know.

"I'll get to that in a minute. This old woman has to follow her train of thought before it leaves the station."

Colby laughed, he couldn't help it. Rilla glared at him. He grinned unrepentently back at her.

"I did a quick SQL query," Rilla held up a hand to forestall any inquiry about the unfamiliar term, "for all the patients that showed up for Gimbel Healthcare to see what other claims came up for them, and found that their dialysis supplies all came from Brentwood Supplies and Durable Medical Equipment. I think it would be a good idea to find out what the relationship is between the two companies. Looks like kickbacks of some kind."

Rilla looked at Robin, "Medicare claims are not processed at a central location. They're contracted out to insurance companies, or third party administrators. It's quite an effort to ensure that payments are made correctly and in a timely fashion. They don't really have the time or the luxury to run statistics on their data. Plus, it would require a look across all of Medicare claim processing to provide any meaningful information on trends."

"Why is there such a huge difference between the billed charges and the payment received?" Colby was curious.

"Well, the billed charges is just whatever the doctor decides he wants to bill. There are charts of what is called 'usual and customary' or 'reasonable and customary' fees for all the services that the medical industry can provide. These are by zip code. Doctors take those amounts and sometimes increase them by as much as 500, and that's what they bill for their services. The insurance companies have contracts with the physicians that determine what amount they will pay for those services. These are called contracted amounts or allowed amounts. Medicare just has a fee schedule that everyone who accepts Medicare has to accept. Then they calculate what benefits the patient is entitled to before they arrive at what payment is due to the physician. Now, if the insurance company decides that a service isn't covered, then the patient is stuck with whatever exorbitant amount that the physician bills."

Rilla looked at the stunned looks on their faces and sighed. "There's more to it than that, but trust me, you don't want to be stuck with a bill from the doctor that the insurance company won't pay. Always check with the insurance company about your medical benefits before getting any services."

She looked thoughtful for a minute then smiled, "As federal agents, you're under the Federal Employees Program. I doubt they'll question any of your claims. Especially if they're for injuries in the line of duty."

"Well, I'm sure that's a relief to the taxpayers," Robin said sarcastically.

Rilla laughed at that, then continued, "Well, we can at least get started on investigating Gimbel and Brentwood Supplies. I'm sure Charlie's algorithm will be able to get us the rest of the doctors we should be investigating with less trouble than I had to go through with Gimbel."

Robin nodded, "I'll get the other investigators started on checking these claims with the patients to see what services were actually rendered."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Robin and Rilla jumped when Colby smacked his hand on his desk. He looked up and grinned at their annoyed frowns, holding his thumb up. "Paydirt," he said with glee. "Got a clear visual of the guy threatening Hague." He turned back to watching the video.

Rilla could have strangled him. She couldn't believe that he was going to leave them dangling with that teaser. She looked at Robin in frustration. Robin only laughed. Rilla signed theatrically and went back to what she was doing.

Several hours later, Colby leaned back in his chair with satisfaction, stretching his muscles out like a mountain lion. Rilla enjoyed the view from where she was. She caught Robin laughing at her frank appreciation. Rilla shrugged and said, sotto voce, "I'm old and married, I'm not dead." Which broke Robin up even more.

"I have video clips showing this man threatening Hague. I have video clips of this same man discussing details of the scheme with Hague. I have video clips of this same man detailing plans to sell packages to other physicians on how to set up this scheme for themselves." Satisfaction was dripping palpably off Colby.

"And who is this man?" Robin inquired, raising her eyebrows.

Colby sighed, "That's the small flaw. I haven't a clue. No names were used in the making of these videos." He parodied with a deadpan expression.

Rilla laughed. He really was very funny with his snark and sarcasm. "Well, you should probably try facial recognition against the American Medical Association database. I think they have photographs of their members."

"That's the next step," Colby agreed. "Maybe we'll get lucky."

-----

Late the next day, Charlie rushed into the command center, breathless and excited. Rilla looked at him in some amusement.

"Look at these! Look at these!" He said breathlessly. "80 percent of the payments in each of these categories go to 20 percent of the unique physician pairings."

"Pairings?" Rilla looked surprised. "What do you mean by pairings?"

Charlie looked a little frustrated by the question, "It's what you asked me to include. Patients who get services from one physician and supplies from another company. You asked for the unique pairings."

"Okay, okay. I just didn't realize that's what you were calling them," Rilla soothed him. She frowned, "We should get some of the investigators to find out if these 'pairings' are owned by the same company. It only an issue of they're owned by the same people. We'll also have to investigate if these services were actually rendered. Just like we're doing for Gimbel and Brentwood."

Robin nodded, taking the printout from Charlie.

"What else do you have, Charlie?" Rilla asked, with curiosity. "You look like you're about to burst!"

Charlie smiled at her, pleased that she'd noticed. He'd often felt dismissed, as some oddity, even while his expertise was being sought. "Well, I called in some favors and got access to the American Medical Association and the registry of healthcare supplies and durable medical equipment companies." He paused for effect.

"Now, Charlie, you're not too old to spank," Rilla warned him.

Colby, who was listening to the exchange, laughed uproariously.

"Neither are you!" Rilla threatened, smiling.

"Promises, promises!" Colby smirked.

Robin rolled her eyes at Rilla, sighing, "Rilla, please, be serious."

"Yeah, please," Charlie huffed in exasperation, forging on when Rilla grinned unrepentently. "Each of the pairings that I gave you are owned by the same people."

There was stunned silence for a moment.

Rilla threw her arms around Charlie and hugged him, "Charlie, you're a genius!"

Charlie grinned, "I know."

Rilla eyed him warningly, but continued, "Good! So the investigators can get started on checking if the services were rendered. Are these pairings across the spectrum of the list of services I gave you? These aren't just chronic dialysis?"

"They're across the spectrum. It actually looks like the Gimbel and Brentwood pairing have the corner on the chronic dialysis market.

Charlie had saved them weeks of work. Even with the data accessible to them in the data warehouse, looking for correlations and finding information that would help them with the investigation would still have taken them weeks. Robin was very pleased with how things were turning out.

-----

Don was proud of how his brother had been helping them out. He'd been leery of bringing Charlie in the first time, a little over a year ago. And there'd been times when he'd felt he was doing the wrong thing, especially when Charlie's life had been in danger. And when their father could have been in danger. But, all in all, it had turned out to be a win-win situation for both of them.

"Thinking about how helpful Charlie has been?" Megan smiled.

Don acknowledged her with a nod, "Yes. I have to admit, though. If you'd asked me, while we were in high school together, if I would be working with my brother like this, you'd have a broken nose."

Megan laughed, "Charlie's a good man."

Don nodded, smiling at that. He did love his brother. Now he was finding that he also liked him.

"How are we coming with the money trail?" Don asked Colby and David, who had just walked in.

"Some good news," David said. "We may not have found it if we hadn't been looking at all of the offshore accounts."

"Yeah," Colby chimed in. "A large number of the offshore accounts receive money from the US, ostensibly for goods purchased. I'm guessing the large number keeps the taxable amounts low and under the IRS radar. The money from these accounts are used to buy and sell more goods offshore, thereby transferring the money from account to account legitimately. Shell corporations are being used in that buying and selling, so it wouldn't surprise me if nothing is actually being purchased or sold. Because the shell corporations were offshore, we had difficulty obtaining account information from the banks. But we wore them down, and found out that large amounts of money were being transferred from those shell corporations to a numbered Swiss account. The Swiss bank finally provided the name of the account holder. It's one Ronald Gimbel."

"Gimbel?" Megan exclaimed.

"Gimbel," David said, "Of Gimbel Healthcare. We finally dug up a picture of this Ronald Gimbel, and he matches the guy in the video who was threatening Hague."

"Well, I hate to rain on anyone's parade. We have Gimbel tied to the fraud and to money laundering. But, that still doesn't give us much on Hague's murder. Threats are just threats," Don was still worried.

Colby nodded, "We have a lead though. Forensics finally found a match for the bullets that killed Hague. We're trying to trace the gun now."

"You've been busy!" Don finally smiled.

David grinned, "He's just trying to clear the case so he can take some time off. Take Hannah away for the weekend."

Colby looked at him in surprise, "How'd you even know that?"

"I'm an FBI agent, man! I can read minds!" David cracked.

They all laughed at that.

"Speaking of weekends," Megan said softly, "I can't be on call over the weekend in a couple of weeks."

Don nodded in assent, but looked at her, hoping for more detail. She ignored their looks of interest. Then Colby laughed, suddenly making the connection.

Megan said, "Say anything and I'll kick your ass."

Colby held up his hands, grinning, "I wouldn't dream of messing with anyone who teaches Krav Maga on the weekends."

-----


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Colby was relieved when he finally went back on field duty. They were getting nowhere on the Hague murder, ballistics couldn't match the bullets to anything they had in the database. The fraud case was progressing nicely, but Robin was using the rest of the task force to chase down patient testimonies, so he and the rest of Don's team were off the hook on that.

They put the Hague case on a back burner and began an investigation on a jewelry theft ring that were targeting jewelry stores. The ring had started on the East Coast the year before, but had begun hitting jewelry stores on the West Coast. Colby had been particularly anxious because Hannah owned a jewelry store. He'd tried to take some comfort in the fact that this ring targeted jewelry stores in malls. These stores were hit before or after business hours, when the mall was open for early morning walkers or late night theater traffic. And they seemed to be focusing on men's gold jewelry and high end watches.

"Don't you think you should take extra precautions, Hannah? Add lights and security, perhaps?" Colby prowled the jewelry store a little restlessly, checking out each nook and cranny to see if there was any way he could make the store more secure.

Hannah tried to stay calm as she watched him check everything out. He'd been checking the store out every morning before she opened, and coming to get her every evening when she closed, since he'd started this investigation. She wasn't sure if she was getting nervous because of his meticulous checks, or because the jewelry theft ring was in the area. "I don't know what else I can be doing, Colby," she said softly, "You're already checking each morning and evening. If you think I should add a security guard, I will. Just tell me who to go to. We've already added alarms, lights, and cameras. What else do I need to do?"

Colby sighed and he drew her in for a hug, "I'm sorry, I'm just worried about you."

"I know, but we're doing everything we can, right? And they don't target the kind of merchandise I carry anyway, right?"

"Right on both counts, but I don't want to take any chances with your safety, Hannah."

She hugged him, "I know." She looked at him thoughtfully, "What do you want to do about the jewelry show on Saturday? Olivia and Amita are meeting me at the convention center. I need to bring the jewelry there."

"I know. David and I have been talking about it. Megan and Robin were planning on going anyway. Don's going because Robin's going to be there, and he wants to make sure she's safe. David and I will drive you from here to the convention center."

Hannah looked at him in some amusement, "Are you sure that's okay?"

Colby shrugged, "We'll all be on personal time for that. Don's okay with it, and that's all I care about."

-----

Saturday's jewelry show went off without a hitch. Hannah's jewelry was a big hit, and everything she'd brought there sold within hours of their arrival. She was breathless and happy, and it made her even happier to see the stunned look on Amita's face when Charlie gave her the set that he'd purchased for her. Olivia nudged her when Charlie and Amita left together. They looked at each other and grinned with satisfaction.

"What are you two up to?" Robin asked, smiling indulgently. Hannah had also finished the jewelry Robin had intended to wear for the US Attorney's ball the following week. She had been amazed at the design. It had even stopped Don in his tracks. She couldn't wait to wear it with her gown for the ball.

Megan grinned, "You two aren't matchmaking or anything like that, are you?"

Olivia tried to look innocent, but Hannah just laughed at her. "Just giving Charlie a little push in the right direction," Hannah replied, smiling.

"When are your college friends coming in, Hannah?" Olivia wanted to know.

"In a few hours. Colby and I are going to the airport to pick them up. Do you want to join us for dinner?" Hannah asked the other women.

Robin shook her head, "It's a rare evening off for Don. I think we're going to spend some time at home."

Megan said, "I have plans."

When it became obvious that she wasn't going to say anymore, Olivia grinned and told Hannah that she and David would meet them for dinner.

-----

"Charlie, you didn't have to do this," Amita said softly. She was stunned at the generosity of the gift. It was a beautiful piece that Hannah had designed. Amita had been reluctant to take it off after she had modeled it. Now she couldn't stop touching it, she could hardly believe that it was hers, let alone that Charlie had bought it for her.

"I wanted to," Charlie said. He sighed and thought to himself, "Good going, Eppes, 'I wanted to' that was brilliant."

Amita smiled at him, her brown eyes shining with happiness.

Charlie cleared his throat, "Would you like to have dinner? Hannah was telling me about this Peruvian restaurant close by. She says it's a bit of a hole in the wall but the food is wonderful. I've been meaning to try it."

"Sure! Let's do it. I've never had Peruvian food."

They finally sank into a table at Mario's Peruvian and Seafood Restaurant on Melrose Avenue. It was a utilitarian sort of place, but the line had been out the door. They'd had to wait 30 minutes for a table.

Amita was giggling, "I hope the food's worth that wait!"

A little fascinated, Charlie reached out to touch Amita on her cheek. She had the loveliest, most flawless skin he'd ever seen. "Luminous," he said.

"What?" Amita looked at him curiously.

He hadn't realized that he'd said the word out loud, "Oh, sorry. Um, I was just describing your skin. It's flawless and luminous."

She was stunned and speechless. She wasn't sure what she was expecting but that wasn't it. "Thank you!" she responded, and was surprised at how breathless she sounded.

Charlie smiled, almost shyly, "I know we had a difficult time the last time we had dinner. But I might have made a mistake when I said we shouldn't talk about work. So I'm not going to limit our conversation in any way."

"Okay. That might make it a little easier. Since that's what we have in common."

"We also have friends in common," Charlie said. "Like Hannah."

"And Robin," Amita said, laughing. "How do you feel about your brother dating Robin?"

Charlie shrugged, "He's happy, that's all that matters." He reached over and traced the design on necklace. "It's really quite amazing. It's almost all standard geometric designs, yet there's just something about it that just fits you perfectly," he trailed off. Then gently caressed her cheek with his thumb.

Amita's lips parted, and Charlie's thumb gently made its way down to trace her lower lip. "Amita," he said, his voice suddenly husky, "Let's go someplace a little more private."

-----

"David, Olivia, this is Willow Owen, and Kayla Stanley," Hannah introduced her college friends. "My two best friends from college."

"We're on our way to Hawaii, and thought we'd stop here to see Hannah. Check out this guy she's been dating," Willow teased Hannah, who rolled her eyes.

David grinned when he saw Colby squirm a little. They'd obviously been giving him a difficult time since they'd been picked up at the airport.

Kayla chimed in, "Yeah, then we saw him, and all Willow wanted to know was if he would be into a foursome with us. Never mind that we're both happily married, and that our husbands wouldn't approve."

David choked on his drink at those words, while Colby turned red with embarrassment. It didn't help when all four women burst into giggles. Colby sighed. It was going to be a long evening.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Colby was relieved when they finally dropped Willow and Kayla off at their hotel. They would be taking the hotel shuttle to the airport early the next morning. She was still smiling from the conversation that evening. He knew that she missed them very much, even though they talked on the phone a good deal.

A soft laugh got his attention, and he found Hannah looking at him with a smile playing on her a lips.

"Were they too direct for you?"

He shrugged, but returned the smile.

"I can't wait to see what other fantasies they'll come up with," Hannah was laughing again. "We'll have to write some of them down."

Colby groaned, the four women had spent most of dinner coming up with fantasies. David, who had started out laughing at him, changed his tune when he was pulled into some of those fantasies. He wondered how their husbands dealt with it. They were lovely women, though very different in looks, Willow, a petite brunette, and Kayla, taller and blonde. And different in personality and temperament as well. But all three were obviously very good friends and it looked like Olivia got along just fine with them.

"You never told me that you have a sister," Colby brought the subject back up. One of the girls had mentioned it at dinner.

"It's just never come up. Anneliese and I get along just fine, but she has a family, with another on the way, and I have my life. We talk once in a while."

"Just not as close as Willow and Kayla?"

Hannah shrugged, "I think Stephanson's just too much like my dad. We almost always get into it when I see him. I hate upsetting Anneliese, so it's always been easier just to avoid getting together with them."

"That's your brother-in-law? He doesn't have a first name?"

She grinned, "Not a polite one. He treats her well though, and it's obvious he loves her, so I put up with him when I have to. It's the darndest thing. I can't stand him, but she's happy with him."

"And if he didn't treat her well?"

"He'd be dead," she said dryly, "And you'd have to hunt me down and put me in those cuffs of yours."

Colby grinned at that. Then they were quiet for a while, both lost in their own thoughts.

"You know, we could try some of those fantasies when we get back to the apartment," Hannah's eyes were gleaming with amusement.

"Can't have a foursome with two people," he retorted.

Hannah giggled, "Well, we just dropped off two willing women at the hotel back there."

"Don't start," Colby warned, but he couldn't help laughing too.

She smiled, those lovely, dark eyes full of promises for the rest of the evening.

-----

"Close your eyes," Larry said, grinning.

Megan laughed, "You can't expect an FBI Agent to go into a situation with her eyes closed!"

"Why not?" Larry looked curious.

"Oh, no. I'm not getting into that. You'll have me standing out here on the doorstep for the rest of the evening if I let you start up a discussion."

Larry laughed. He knew he had the propensity to be verbose. "Then close your eyes."

"How am I going to walk into the room if I have my eyes closed?"

"You'll just have to trust me to guide you into the room."

Megan glanced sharply at him. She searched his face and realized that he was serious. Sighing, she closed her eyes.

Larry felt happiness well up in his chest. He hadn't realized how much this expression of her trust in him would affect him. For once, he was at a loss to express himself. He took her hand, and placed it in the crook of his arm, then he opened the door.

"This way," Larry coaxed, as he guided her into the center of the room. "Alright, now open your eyes."

"Oh!" There were rose petals strewn over the bed, the fire was crackling. There was a bottle of champagne chilling in the ice bucket. Then Megan caught her breath. In the center of the table, was a rare Phal javanica orchid. "Larry!" she exclaimed, touched beyond words. The Phal javanica had to be imported from South-East Asia. "How long have you been planning this?"

"Just a little while," his lips twitched. "I couldn't quite decide between the Phal javanica and the Blue Ascocenda. I ended up getting this because I thought it went a little better with your decor." He watched her gently caress the petals. "Some champagne?"

Megan looked up and smile, "Yes, please." And her eyes widened as he pulled the bottle out of the bucket. It was a Dom Perignon. "Oh, Larry."

He smiled, "1990."

Megan was stunned, "How did you even track down a bottle of that vintage?"

"Everything is possible, for the most important of reasons, for the most important of people," he said softly, handing her a champagne flute, bubbling with champagne.

"Waterford?"

"Of course."

"You've seen to every detail, I'm impressed. And touched," Megan looked at him in wonder.

"Many happy returns," he offered the toast.

Megan smiled and touched her glass to his, delighting in the purity of the note the two champagne flutes made. "Thank you!"

"And the pièce de rèsistance," he handed her the jeweler's box, with a flourish.

Megan caught her breath as she opened the box. Hannah had outdone herself.

"Tiger-eye. In my opinion, the most elegant of the semi-precious stones. Hannah would not have gainsaid a choice I made, but I was delighted that she agreed with me. They're pseudomorphs, the quartz replaces the crocidolite, that's what gives the tiger-eye it's chatoyance. That lovely rolling gleam across the fibers of tawny gold and brown. Hannah's done an excellent job in showcasing the chatoyance."

"And you provided her with the stone, of course?" Megan laughed.

Larry looked a little sheepish, "No offence to Hannah and her sources. But look at it! Her design takes my breath away. Strong, yet feminine."

"Put it on for me, please?" She set her flute down and went to the mirror.

His fingers trembling just a little, Larry slid the necklace around Megan's neck. And sighed with relief when his fingers didn't fumble the clasp.

She smiled at him through the mirror, and touched his hand. Then pulled him to the rose-strewn bed.

-----

Colby tossed Hannah over his shoulder and ran up the stairs. Hannah laughed and protested but he knew it turned her on. He found it amusing that she occasionally liked to be dominated in the bedroom, but woe betide anyone, especially of the male gender who tried to push her around during the day.

"Aren't you going to put me down?" Hannah was breathless. Bouncing on his shoulder had knocked some of the air out of her.

"Not yet." He grinned.

"What in the world are you planning?" Hannah was laughing again.

"You'll see. I'm not nearly as imaginative as you are, but it'll be interesting for you, I promise that much."

Hannah stopped fighting him and relaxed so she could reach his butt. Then smacked him as hard as she could.

"Hey! Watch it!" Colby complained.

"You've had to sit on your butt too long, it's getting flabby." Hannah giggled when he smacked her behind in retaliation. "What's got into you, Granger?"

He snickered, "Nothing. But you'll soon find out what will be getting into you." He walked quickly to the bedroom, and leaned over, easing her onto the bed. He started unbuttoning her blouse.

She giggled. She'd felt the unmistakable bulge as he put her down on the bed. "So you weren't unaffected by those fantasies."

"It was torture. Sheer, unadulterated torture. Imagining doing all those things to you and not being able to release any of the tension. And knowing full well that's why the four of you were talking about it." Then he grinned. "You're going to be punished for that."

Laughing as he tickled her, just a little, she said breathlessly, "Oooh! Promises!"

He got the rest of her clothes off and turned her over onto her front. And before she even realized what he was planning, he cuffed her hands behind her back.

"You're really quick with those, aren't you?" Hannah was amused.

"Practice. I'm the low man on the totem pole on the team, I get to do a lot of the cuffing." He pulled her up on her knees, her shoulders and head still on the bed, with her bottom facing him. He grinned as he smacked her on her butt again.

A shocked "Ooh!" escaped her, on a sudden intake of breath. It was a harder smack than she had expected.

He stripped quickly, he'd been aroused all evening and he was ready. So was she, he realized, as he thrust into her. She moaned at the invasion. He smacked her on the butt again, gentler this time. And began to thrust steadily into her.

She pushed back as he thrust forward, whimpering as her head began to spin, and the pleasure began to build, until she couldn't stand it anymore, and screamed her orgasm into the bed.

He continued to thrust, until he himself climaxed. He pushed her back to her side, and got into bed next to her. He pulled her into his arms and sighed with contentment.

She snuggled her face into his neck and nipped him lightly, "So, uncuff me already."

He laughed and complied.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

"The ballistics report came back on the slugs that were found in the jewelry store shooting," Megan said as she walked into the bullpen.

Colby eyed her with interest. She had a glow about her that he didn't often see. A glow like the one Hannah usually had after they'd had a long evening making love.

Megan ignored him pointedly, but couldn't help the blush that to rose to her cheeks.

He grinned, but decided to leave her be.

"Any good news in that report?" Don asked, frowning at Colby, who shrugged and turned back to what he was doing with a smirk on his face.

"Yes. Get this. The slugs match the ones in the Hague case."

That got everyone's attention.

"The Hague case?" David was incredulous. "What are the odds of that happening?"

Colby rolled his eyes, "Just don't ask that when Charlie's around."

Don grinned, he couldn't help it.

Megan sighed, then continued, "Well, there hasn't been any reports of shootings in the jewelry theft case until this one. It's either an anomaly, or they've acquired a new partner. Or one of them just got the gun that was used in the Hague murder." She paused to catch her breath. "I also have the name and last known address on the fingerprint that was found at the crime scene. One Hector Ramirez."

Don glanced over at Colby and David.

"On our way," David said.

-----

"He didn't kill Hague," Colby told Don. "He didn't arrive in Los Angeles until a couple of days ago. But he says the shots were fired by one of the other guys who were at the heist. Apparently he was also new with the ring. A cold, deadly kind of guy, is how Hector describes him. Could be our man."

Don nodded, "Can Ramirez tell us where we can find him and the rest of this ring?"

"There was a falling out. Apparently this guy isn't with the ring anymore. But Hector gave us the address where he had apparently lived. But, get this. The entire ring is carrying guns now because of him."

Don grimaced. That was the last thing they needed. "Get a sketch of this guy. Also have Hector look through the mug shots to see if he's in our database. Might as well get some use out of him. Then stake out the place, see if we can get this guy."

He paused for a few minutes, and Colby started to leave, thinking that he was done, but Don stopped him. "Rilla's last day here is Thursday. I thought we could take her out to dinner or something."

Colby looked startled, "Already? I didn't think the work was done on the fraud case!"

"It's not, but Rilla's going back to working on the data warehouse for CMS. Her work is done for the task force. She'll be working at the CMS office in Washington, D.C., at least while the data warehouse project is going. I know you got along very well with her."

"Yeah. I'm going to miss her. She's a hoot." He sighed, and wondered if Hannah would have enough time to put that party together. "Let me call Hannah, see what she wants to do. She'd talked about asking Rilla over for dinner one day. Maybe she'll want to have this goodbye dinner at her apartment."

"Okay. Just let Robin know. She'll get the word out."

-----

It turned out to be the easiest arrest David and Colby had ever made. They'd caught him as he was coming back from the grocery store, arms full of bags of groceries. And it didn't take them long for him to cut a deal in exchange for a lighter sentence. He'd even had a video recording of Gimbel telling him to kill Hague.

David looked at Colby, who shrugged. "It can't be this easy," David said, stunned.

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. We have too many tough ones as it is."

Robin nodded in agreement. She looked at Don and said quietly, "It will be very satisfying to put Gimbel away. He will be charged for murder in the first degree and one felony count of execution of a health care fraud scheme, a $325 million dollar medical fraud scheme. He won't be going anywhere for a while."

-----

At the end of the work day, Colby looked up to see Hannah and Olivia strolling in, carrying bags of stuff. He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "David, were you expecting Olivia?"

"No, why?"

"Because she's walking down the hallway, with Hannah."

David looked up in surprise.

"Oh, it's time!" Megan dropped what she was doing and dashed down the hallway after them.

Don looked up in annoyance.

Colby grinned, and got up to go after them.

"Don't you have paperwork to do?" Don asked dryly.

"Nothing that can't wait. I have to find out what's going on," Colby replied, already halfway down the hallway.

David looked at Don. He grinned, and went after Colby.

Don rolled his eyes. He knew what the ladies were doing.

"What are you up to, Hannah?" Colby said from the doorway, staring at the things that had been spread out over the tables in what used to be the command center.

"You can't come in here, Granger!" Rilla exclaimed, "or you, Sinclair!"

"Why not? This is an FBI conference room," Colby retorted.

Hannah giggled, "This is a District Attorney's dressing room right now."

She started to give Colby a kiss, but Olivia grabbed her by the arm.

"Not now, Hannah, you can cuff him later."

Rilla's jaw dropped as she stared at Hannah, and the other women burst into laughter.

Colby grinned, but started to leave, satisfied that he'd found out what they were up to.

"You can leave now, too, David," Olivia called out to him, intent on what she was doing.

Colby laughed at the dejected look on David's face. When they got back to the bullpen, Don had already left, presumably to put his tux on.

An hour later, they saw Don leave with Robin on his arm. She looked radiantly beautiful in her gown, and the necklace that Hannah had made.

Hannah went into the bullpen to look for Colby, and smiled to see him and David watching Don and Robin leave. She slid into his arms, and leaned her head onto his chest.

"I'm not in the way or anything, am I?" David asked wryly. "The temperature seems to have gone up a degree or two."

Colby chuckled, "Nah, we're just leaving. We have to get things together for the party tomorrow night at Hannah's."

"And we have to get started with our share of it, David," Olivia hugged him in greeting. David's grin widened at the sight of her.

"Can't we do that later?"

"How much later?"

"A lot later," David replied, kissing her.

"Now who's in the way?" Colby laughed. "See you kids!"

-----

Despite all of Hannah's misgivings, everything came together nicely for Rilla's going away party. Everyone pitched in to do something, and all the food seemed to fit nicely together.

Colby came into the apartment just as Hannah was putting the finishing touches to the place before everyone arrived. He came up behind her and slid his arms around her for a hug. He kissed her on the sensitive spot just behind her ear, and trailed kisses down to the nape of her neck. Her eyes drifted shut, and she moaned softly. He slipped something on her left wrist, and she laughed, "Cuffing me again? We have guests in a few minutes."

He chuckled, then said very softly, "I love you, Hannah."

She spun around in surprise.

He smiled, and raised her left hand to his lips for a kiss.

She caught her breath when she realised that he'd slipped a diamond bracelet on her wrist. "Oh, Colby!"

"I'm sorry it took so long to get you anything, but I could hardly ask you to design a gift for yourself. Then I saw you looking at one of these in a catalog one day."

Hannah's eyes widened, she remembered the S-link three carat total weight diamond bracelet she had been sighing over. The catalogue had disappeared but she simply thought she'd lost it or thrown it out. "Colby, you should't have, it's too..."

He kissed her, "You're worth it."

"I love you, too, Colby."

-----

The next day, everyone dragged into the office. The party had run late the night before, everyone had been reluctant to leave.

Rilla was getting her things together, packing things into boxes to be shipped.

Robin struggled with her emotions. She'd never felt this affection for anyone she'd worked closely with before. "How do you do this everytime?"

Rilla smiled, "I keep in touch. I travel a lot, so you'll see me again. This isn't the end, Robin. It's just the beginning of another part of my life." She hugged Robin, who held her tightly for just a minute longer. Rilla grinned, "And I definitely wouldn't be missing your wedding. Or Granger's."

Robin laughed, "That was a beautiful bracelet. It'll be a while before he can afford a ring to go with that bracelet."

"Possibly, but it wouldn't surprise me if he had quite a bit stashed away. I can't imagine that there's much you can spend your money on in Afghanistan."

Rilla made her rounds before she left, saying good byes to friends she'd made over the time she'd spent there. Despite her words to Robin, she always felt a little sad at the end of each project. Each person she'd worked with touched something in her. She finally stopped at Colby's cubicle.

"Saved the best for last, did you?" But Colby's voice was a little huskier than usual.

She hugged him, she was really going to miss him. "You be good to her, or I'll come down and smack you down personally," she threateed.

He grinned, "You don't have to worry about that. I'm well and truly hooked." He kissed her on the cheek and whispered, "I'll deny it if you ever mention it, but I'm going to miss you."

Rilla laughed, then jumped back out of everyone's way as word came in on a jewelry store heist.

Megan and Don came running back into the bullpen, "Heist at the corner of Hammer and Hillier in progress, LAPD thinks its the theft ring we're after. We have to go."

"Corner of Hammer and Hillier! That's where Hannah's store is!" Colby's voice was raw with fear.

"And Olivia's there with her today," David said grimly.

They were both already putting on their kevlar vests. Don looked at them and said, "I don't think you two should be in this. If this turns out to be a hostage situation, I don't want you there."

"Just try and stop us, Don," Colby's response was quiet, but all the more deadly for it.

Don sighed, but paused to say quietly to Megan, "Make sure we have ambulance support." Megan nodded.

SWAT had already been deployed and were in position when they got there. Don took a few minutes to speak with the SWAT commander. "They are holding two women hostage. A black woman, and a white woman, the owner of the store. They're demanding that they be allowed to leave, in exchange for the hostages." Don grimaced. It was not what he wanted to hear.

"They're being held hostage, aren't they?" Don turned at Colby's calm question. He shivered involuntarily at the cold gleam in Colby's eyes.

"Yes."

A door slammed somewhere, and everyone ducked for cover. Two gunmen, dragged Hannah and Olivia out of the store, using them as shields, came out of the store, holding their guns to the women's heads. Don could tell they were frightened, but they had their lips compressed, as though willing their fear into submission.

"Where's our car? We're tired of waiting! We'll kill one of them if we don't get our car right now!"

The SWAT negotiator tried to calm them down, but they were having none of it. "Right now! We want the car right now, or one of these women dies."

"I have a clear shot," the calm voice of a SWAT sniper came across the radio. "Do you want me to take it?"

Just then one of the gunmen spotted the sniper, and fired off a shot. Then all hell broke loose, and Colby felt a claw of ice rip out his throat and his heart when he heard Hannah scream.

"Olivia! Get down!" David shouted.

"Oh, God! Hannah! No!"

The now-silent street reverberated with the horror and anguish of Colby's scream. Tears streaming down his face, he cradled Hannah's limp body tenderly in his arms, as he tried desperately to staunch the blood that seemed to flow endlessly.

**finis**

-----

**Author's note:**

Medicare Fraud is a serious issue. It costs Medicare billions of dollars every year, resulting in higher Medicare premiums, deductibles and co-payments. Losses due to fraud can prevent Medicare from offering more services and better coverage. And it happens to elderly people who can least afford it.

Here are some websites that I used in researching facts for my story. Do your share to fight Medicare fraud. This money comes from us the taxpayers, and should be used to benefit us the taxpayers. Don't let someone steal it away.

This website talks a little about scams that are used to steal Medicare numbers. Help the people you know who are on Medicare to be on the alert for these scams. This stupid thing won't let me provide links properly, but check the CMS website **www.cms.hhs.gov** and the medicare website **www.medicare.gov **The fraud section is **www.medicare.gov/FraudAbuse/Overview.asp**

As far as I know, there is no data warehouse like the one I described. Back when I was still working in data warehousing, there was some talk of putting together such a data warehouse, but privacy laws being what they are, it didn't look like it was going to happen. I have not kept up with the news to find out if anyone ever went forward with it. I still think it would do wonders in tracking many things, not just fraud and abuse.

The fraud case that I used is true, the murder is not. The case is against Gambro Healthcare and you can read about it here at the Department of Justice website **www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2004/December/04civ774.htm**

And I picked up the idea of the jewelry theft ring from the FBI's website, this page in particular **www.fbi.gov/page2/dec05/gatecutters120105.htm**

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. At this time, I don't know if I will be writing another Colby and Hannah story. My beloved Cardinals need my support, and they need it particularly badly this year.

Enjoy your summer!


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